IBRARY 


THE  UNIVERSITY 


OF  CAL  :FORNIA 


LOS  ANGELES 


LEOPOLD  LOEW 
1811-1875 


LEOPOLD    LOEW 

A  BIOGRAPHY 

With  a  Translation  of  Some  of  the  Tributes  Paid  to  His 
Memory  an  tlie  Occasion  of  the  Centenary  of 
His  Birth,  Celebrated  at  Szeged, 
Hungary,    June    4>    1911 


BY 

WILLIAM  N.  LOEW 


NEW  YORK 

PRIVATELY  PRINTED 

1912 


75$ 
LI  H 


I    DEDICATE 
THIS    VOLUME  TO    THE    DESCENDANTS    OF 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES, 
MY    BELOVED    DAUGHTERS    AND    SONS 

AND 
THEIR    DAUGHTERS    AND    SONS 


1947605 


FOREWORD 

All  that  follows  will  be  of  interest  to  those  whom  I  have 
just  mentioned  in  the  dedication.  Unfortunately,  none  of 
them  reads  Hungarian,  and  all  that  they  know  of  their  no- 
ble grandfather — and  great-grandfather — they  must  know  in 
this  way.  To  others  who  may  happen  to  look  into  this  vol- 
ume, I  beg  to  say  that  if  the  praise  seems  fulsome  and  the 
language  over-ornate,  yet  these  are  words  of  sincere  ad- 
mirers who  know  whereof  they  speak,  and  who  know  that  no 
words  and  no  praise  can  be  too  great  for  the  character,  the 
ability,  and  the  actual  achievement  of  Leopold  Loew. 

WILLIAM  N.  LOEW. 


LEOPOLD  LOEW 


IN  MEMORIAM 
1811—1911 

One  hundred  years  ago, — who  knows  not  Victor  Hugo's  line, 
Napoleon  exclaimed:  "Henceforth  the  future's  mine," 
When  from  the  High  the  thund'rous  voice  of  God  spoke  loud: 
' '  Not  so !  the  future  is  but  God 's ! "     .     .     .     Forgotten  is  the 

proud, 

Illustrious  "King  of  Rome"  born  in  that  famous  year, 
Unhonored  and  unsung,  unwept  by  e'en  one  grateful  tear. 

Thou,  Leopold  Low, — immortal  sire  of  ours,  thou  too  wert 
born 

One  hundred  years  ago,  on  a  beauteous  May-day  morn. 

No  great  empire  awaited  thee,  a  new-born  son  and  heir; 

Thou  wert  but  poor  folks'  child,  and  yet  a  race  and  state  de- 
clare 

Thy  never-waning  fame,  thy  most  illustrious  name, 

And  praise  thy  memory  with  heartfelt,  proud  acclaim. 

Thou  hast  secured  our  deathless  love  and  our  devotion 

By  thy  sacerdotal  unction  and  deep  emotion, 

And  by  the  purity  and  sweetness  of  thy  soul; 

The  countless  thousands  found  through  thee  the  longed  for 

goal. 

Thou  taught 'st  freedom  to  love,  hate  cant,  despise  the  wrong! 
Thou  wert  a  prophet  and  a  priest,  a  God-born  son  of  song. 


10  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

Each  word  of  thine  had  been  a  holy  benediction, 
Which  soothingly  brought  calm  to  all  human  affliction. 
And  did'st  thou  read  aloud  a  soulful,  holy  prayer 
All  human  thought  was  turned  from  sorrow  and  despair. 
With  tenderness  thou  hast  taught  us  resignation, 
Thy  speech  appeased  the  cry  of  pain  and  desolation. 

From  superstition,  hollow  mockeries  and  form 

Thou  didst  purify  religion,  and  didst  brave  the  storm 

Created  by  thy  sublime:  "Let  there  be  light!" 

And  there  was  light!  and  ignorance  and  cant  took  flight. 

To  the  Magyar  Jew  who  sings  King  David's  psalm. 

Thou,  Leopold  Low,  wert  the  date-tree  and  the  palm. 

O'er  dull  tomes  and  scrolls  thy  master  mind  has  pondered, 
With  Joshua  ben  Chananja's  spirit  thou  hast  wandered 
To  extract  some  maxim  new  for  human  good. 
All  mankind  was  for  thee  one  common  brotherhood. 
With  Malachi  the  prophet  thou  didst  never  cease  to  say: 
"One  God  created  us,  let  man  love  man  alway!" 

With  thy  great  mighty  force  of  heart  and  soul  and  mind 

Thy  epoch  pushed  ahead,  thy  master  hand  designed 

A  state  in  which  the  homeless,  errant,  outcast  Jew 

To  proud  selfconscious  manhood  grew,  madest  him  pursue 

An  honorable  calling,  taughtst  him  to  toil 

As  artisan,  to  learn  a  trade,  to  till  the  soil. 

In   eighteen   hundred  forty-nine, — tremendous  year, 

Kossuth's,  Petofi's — the  war  god's  voice  we  hear. 

Thy  priestly  staff  thou  lay'st  aside;   beneath  the  heaven's 

vault 

Thou  preachest  liberty !  and  in  the  midst  of  the  assault 
Inspirest  the  fighting  men!     For  those  who  bravely  die 
Thou  art  with  faith's  divinely  soothing  prayers  nigh. 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  11 

A  Magyar  citizen, — faithful,  loyal  and  true 

Thou  madest — and  what  a  fight  it  cost! — of  the  Hungarian 

Jew! 

And  with  thee  fought, — it  was  a  fine  triumvirate — 
Our  own  Klauzal  and  he, — the  greatest  of  the  great, 
Francis  Deak!     No  human  speech,  so  rich  to  find 
Words  adequate  to  praise  these  in  our  hearts  enshrined. 

Thou  hast  given  to  dawning  youth  a  new  incentive, 
Hast  cheered  the  weak  and  stirred  to  deed  the  strong.     At- 
tentive 

Listened  to  thy  teachings  half  of  the  cultured  world 
And  followed  thee  when  thou  thy  own  school's  flag  unfurled. 
Ave!  Ave!  Priest,  Savant,  Leader,  strong  and  kind, 
Thine  image  is  in  mankind's  grateful  heart  enshrined! 

WILLIAM  N.  LOEW. 
Szeged,  Hungary,  June  4th  1911. 


LEOPOLD  LOEW 

LEOPOLD  LOEW  was  born  in  Csernahora,  a  little  village  in 
Moravia,  one  of  the  provinces  of  Austria,  on  May  22,  1811. 
He  was  the  first  born  son  of  a  poor  couple,  the  only  Jewish 
family  in  the  village.  On  his  father's  side  he  was  a  descend- 
ant of  the  famous  Rabbi  Loew  ben  Bezallel  of  Prague  (1660), 
the  hero  of  the  well  known  Gomel  legend. 

He  received  a  better  education  than  usually  fell  to  the 
lot  of  Jewish  boys  in  those  days  in  Moravia.  A  private  tutor 
was  engaged  for  him  and  his  younger  brothers.  The  Roman 
Catholic  priest  of  the  village,  who  had  taken  a  liking  to  the 
bright,  wide  awake  boy,  taught  him  the  national  language 
and  music. 

Loew  showed  great  inclination  toward  music  and  had 
much  natural  ability  in  mastering  it.  He  played  the  piano, 
the  violin  and  the  flute,  all  three  instruments  fluently  and 
in  his  musical  studies  had  advanced  to  the  intricacies  of  coun- 
terpoint and  composition. 

At  the  age  of  13  he  left  his  father's  house  to  enter  the 
Jeshivah.  (High  school  for  Rabbinical  lore.) 

The  institution  of  the  "Jeshivah"  is  fast  dying  out. 
Theological  seminaries  are  rising  in  their  place,  but  the 
Jeshivah  of  olden  days  was  the  fountain  at  wrhich  giants  and 
heroes  of  deep  thought  and  learning  acquired  that  wide  and 
profound  knowledge  of  Talmudic  lore  for  which  they  were 
famous.  He  attended  three  of  these  Jeshivahs.  Rabbi 
Joachim  Deutschmann  's  at  Trebitsch,  later  at  Kollin ;  Rabbi 
Moses  Perl's  at  Kismarton  and  Rabbi  Baruch  Frankel's  at 
Leipnik. 

In  the  year  1835  he  was  made  the  recipient  of  his  first 
"Hattarah"  (certificate  of  authorization  to  assume  the  office 

12 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  13 

of  Rabbi)  from  Rabbi  Deutschmann,  who  described  him  as 
"the  most  intelligent  scholar  he  ever  had."  His  other  "Hat- 
tarahs,"  Loew  received  later  from  Chief  Rabbis  L.  L.  Rap- 
paport  of  Prague,  Loew  Schwab  of  Pest  (Budapest)  and 
Aaron  Chorin  of  Arad. 

In  addition  to  his  Talmudical  studies  he  devoted  earnest 
and  close  attention  to  Hebrew  grammatical  learning,  so  that 
he  was  able  to  write  Hebrew  with  classic  beauty  and  power. 
He  wrote  Jewish  poetry  with  easy  grace,  and  many  of  the 
classic  poems  of  Schiller  were  rendered  by  him  into  the 
language  of  the  divine  psalmist. 

In  1830  he  left  the  Jeshivah  and  in  September  of  that  year 
went  to  Prossnitz,  then  a  famous  Jewish  center,  becoming 
the  scholar  of  Loew  Schwab,  then  the  Rabbi  there,  who,  later 
on,  became  his  lifelong  friend  and  father-in-law.  Here 
he  began  his  studies  of  the  ancient  classics  of  Rome  and 
Athens  and  modern  languages:  French  and  Italian.  In  all 
of  these  he  acquired  more  than  superficial  proficiency  and  a 
complete  bibliography  of  his  works  names  articles  of  literary 
and  scientific  merit  written  by  him  in  Hebrew,  German, 
Hungarian,  French  and  Latin. 

In  Prossnitz  he  received  the  appointment  as  Hebrew 
teacher.  Of  those  days  one  of  his  pupils,  Louis  Schnabel,  a 
Superintendent  of  the  Hebrew  Orphan  Asylum  of  New  York 
city,  published  in  the  "Deborah,"  a  Jewish  family  paper 
edited  by  him,  a  most  graceful  and  grateful  article  paying 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  his  beloved  teacher. 

In  1835  he  migrated  to  Hungary.  He  decided  on  this 
step  because  the  then  "Landes  Rabbiner"  i.  e.  Chief  Rabbi 
of  the  Province  of  Moravia,  had  refused  him  a  "Hattarah" 
on  the  ground,  that  he, — Loew  "can  read  and  write  Ger- 
man and  other  languages  is  not  fit  to  be  a  rabbi ! ' ' 

Loew  went  to  Pest  and  again  he  was  with  his  former 
teacher,  the  famous  Loew  Schwab,  the  Chief  Rabbi  of  Pest. 
He  acted  as  private  tutor  in  several  Jewish  families  and  in 
addition  he  pursued  his  studies. 


14  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

For  five  years  he  studied  hard.  Every  branch  of  human 
knowledge  was  included  in  his  curriculum.  He  studied 
mathematics,  dogmatics,  theology,  philosophy,  exegesis  and 
hermeneutics,  logic  and  psychology,  ethics  and  metaphysics, 
the  classics  and  the  interpretations  of  the  Scriptures,  history 
and  languages,  natural  history  and  natural  philosophy,  orien- 
tal languages  and  archaeology.  None  of  these  was  taken 
upon  in  a  haphazard  manner  but  methodically  and  system- 
atically. 

Philological,  historical,  philosophical  studies  then  com- 
manded and  probably  even  now  command  almost  the  ex- 
clusive attention  of  Hebrew  scholars.  Loew  was  more  am- 
bitious. Dogmatics,  ethics,  catechetics  and  homiletics  were 
fields  in  which  he  culled  with  industrious  hands  and  observ- 
ing eyes. 

In  1837  he  graduated  from  the  Lutheran  Lyceum  of 
Pozsony  (Pressburg)  and  in  1840  he  passed  successfully  his 
examinations  as  High-School  teacher  at  Vienna.  His  studies 
at  these  two  non-Jewish  institutions  of  learning  were  the 
basis  of  the  persecution  he  suffered  from  later  on  at  the  hands 
of  some  of  his  bigoted  coreligionists. 

In  the  year  1840  he  accepted  a  call  as  Rabbi  of  the  Jewish 
congregation  of  Nagy  Kanizsa  in  Hungary  and  began  his 
useful  career  of  rabbi,  teacher  and  preacher. 

The  year  previous  he  had  begun  his  literary  career  with 
the  publication  of  a  Rabbinical-Reform  Program,  which 
caused  men  like  Holdheim,  Manheimer  and  Schwab  to  re- 
gard the  young  author  with  high  appreciation. 

This  program  was  a  preface  to  the  great  Aaron  Chorin's 
"Jeled  Sekunim. "  It  bears  the  name:  "Die  Reform  des 
Rabbinischen  Ritus  auf  Rabbinschem  Standpunkle. " 

In  Nagy  Kanizsa  he  began  to  carry  out  his  Reform  pro- 
gram. Synagogue  and  school,  the  two  fields  of  his  labors, 
soon  showed  the  results  of  his  beneficial  efforts.  Instead  of 
the  jargon  sanctioned  by  custom,  grammar  and  correct  lan- 
guage were  introduced.  The  language  of  the  country  was 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  15 

taught,  trade  schools  and  girl's  schools  were  opened,  all 
novelties  in  the  educational  world  of  that  period. 

In  the  year  1844  he  began  to  preach  in  the  Magyar  tongue 
and  to  write  articles  in  that  language.  He  had  become  a 
regular  contributor  of  the  "Pesti  Hirlap,"  then  the  fore- 
most Magyar  newspaper,  edited  by  the  famous  historian 
Ladislaus  Szalay  and  later  on  by  the  world-famed  Louis 
Kossuth.  One  of  Loew's  articles  was  in  answer  to  one  of 
Kossuth's,  then  almost  the  demigod  of  Hungary  whom  Loew 
bravely  assailed  for  his  lukewarmness  in  his  advocacy  of  the 
rights  of  the  Jew  and  for  Kossuth's  idea,  expressed  in  those 
articles,  — of  eventually  granting  to  the  Jews  their  political 
emancipation  only  and  leaving  their  recognition  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Magyar  nation,  their  social  recognition,  de- 
pending on  their — the  Jews — "changing  certain  racial 
habits."  Loew's  polemic  with  Kossuth  became  the  sensation 
of  the  day.  It  was  unheard  of  for  a  Jewish  rabbi  to  assail 
the  great  leader  of  a  nation. 

Loew  carried  his  point,  the  revolutionary  government  of 
Hungary — with  Louis  Kossuth  as  Governor-Dictator  at  the 
head — enacted  a  law  embodying  the  emancipation  of  the 
Jews  in  Hungary  and  conferring  on  them  absolute  and  full 
rights  of  citizenship.  Later  on  the  two  men,  Loew  and  Kos- 
suth, became  friends  and  when  Loew  died,  Kossuth  spoke 
of  his  death  as  a  national  loss. 

At  about  the  same  time  he  had  his  famous  literary  contro- 
versy with  Rev.  Joseph  Szekacs,  then  a  Protestant  minister 
and  professor,  later  on  the  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  church  of 
Hungary.  Loew  hauled  him  over  the  coals  mercilessly  for 
some  passage  in  a  literary  review  written  by  him.  Loew's 
"open  letter"  caused  a  stir  and  the  result  was  that  the 
Protestant  minister  at  an  early  opportunity  corrected  what 
he  had  written  about  the  Jew — he  became  a  warm  advocate 
of  Jewish  emancipation  and  a  personal  friend  and  admirer 
of  Leopold  Loew. 

Loew's   Hungarian   literary   work  of  those  days  was  al- 


16  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

most  exclusively  devoted  to  awakening  in  the  Magyar  Jew 
a  patriotic  spirit  and  to  educating  and  ripening  his  people 
for  that  position — to  attain  which  was  his  highest  ambition — 
as  lawfully  recognized  citizens  of  the  land  with  all  political, 
civil  and  religious  rights  of  citizenship.  Equally  earnest  how- 
ever were  his  efforts  to  awaken  a  spirit  of  love  and  ap- 
preciation in  the  hearts  of  the  Hungarian  people  and  na- 
tion towards  the  Jew  in  Hungary.  During  these  years  he 
also  began  his  agitation  for  a  correct  translation  of  the 
Hebrew  Bible  into  the  Magyar,  a  work  finished  about  thirty 
years  afterwards  under  the  auspices  of  the  "Hungarian 
Jewish  Society"  an  organization  called  into  life  by  him 
and  at  present  still  continuing  its  activities. 

Another  purpose  in  his  life,  which  set  in  then,  and  which 
was  ever  afterwards  most  faithfully  adhered  to,  was  to  be 
an  ever-watchful  guardian  of  his  people  and  his  religion 
against  the  attacks  of  the  enemies  of  Jews  and  Judaism. 

In  the  month  of  August,  1846,  he  moved  to  Papa,  a  city 
in  the  county  of  Veszprem,  Hungary,  having  accepted  the 
call  from  the  large  and  important  Jewish  congregation  of 
that  city.  The  Jews  of  Papa,  however,  or  at  least  a  power- 
ful minority  intimately  connected  with  the  Jews  of  Pozsony 
(Pressburg),  could  never  forgive  Loew  his  audacity  in  spend- 
ing almost  two  years  in  the  latter  city;  that  instead  of  at- 
tending the  Jeshivah  of  Rabbi  Moses  Tzofer,  then  one  of 
the  foremost  orthodox  leaders  of  southeastern  Europe,  he 
devoted  these  two  years  to  studying  at  a  Lutheran  Lyceum. 

Here  began  Loew's  religious  martyrdom.  It  is  impossible 
to  draw  a  correct  picture  of  the  fight  which  broke  forth 
upon  his  call  to  Papa.  To  understand  it  fully  one  must 
know  the  condition  of  civilization  of  Magyar  Jews  and  of 
Magyar  Gentiles  of  those  days ;  one  must  have  a  clear  insight 
into  the  social  conditions,  the  political  organization  and  the 
public  system  of  the  county — comitatus — governments. 

The  protest  of  this  minority  against  his  election,  the 
charges  made  against  him — f.  i.  he  had  been  seen  bareheaded, 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  17 

he  was  heard  playing  the  piano  on  a  Friday  evening  and 
such  things — caused  a  stir  in  town  and  county  meetings; 
appeals  were  taken  and  were  carried  to  the  highest  authori- 
ties— corresponding  to  our  Governors  of  State,  the  court  of 
appeals  of  the  State  and  finally  to  the  Supreme  law  authori- 
ties of  the  land !  The  final  decisions  were  in  favor  of  Loew, 
his  election  was  confirmed,  the  numerous  charges  against 
him  were  dismissed,  some  of  his  calumniators  were  fined, 
some  were  sentenced  to  corporal  punishment,  and  some  were 
imprisoned. 

Loew 's  days  in  Papa  were  full  of  sorrow,  full  of  bitterness ; 
but  he  felt  no  discouragement.  He  went  ahead  with 
dauntless  courage  and  indefatigable  industry.  A  new  Syna- 
gogue was  consecrated,  a  new  elementary  school  was  created. 
He  published  the  Ben  Chananja,  a  monthly  magazine  dedicated 
to  the  interests  of  Jews  and  Judaism,  which  publication  he  re- 
newed several  years  afterwards  and  continued  for  a  decade, 
making  the  Ben  Cliananja,  one  of  the  foremost  repositories  of 
Jewish  thought  in  Europe.  His  sermons  were  delivered  in 
German — not  the  jargon  Yiddish,  then  the  ' '  official ' '  language 
of  the  average  Jew — occasionally  he  preached  in  the  Hunga- 
rian language. 

While  at  Papa  he  became  also  Professor  of  Hebrew  at 
the  Protestant  College  of  that  city  and  lectured  before  non- 
Jewish  societies  and  literary  bodies.  This  was  one  of  the 
things  that  created  such  bitter  feeling  against  him.  His 
congregation  contained  a  certain  class  of  people  to  whom 
culture  and  education  and  refinement  were  like  blood  red  flags 
before  infuriated  bulls.  To  them  it  was  a  sacrilege,  a  sin 
crying  to  Heaven,  that  a  Jewish  Rabbi  should  teach  men 
who  were  to  become  "Gallochs," — Christian  priests, — or  that 
a  Rabbi  should  be  seen  in  modern  dress,  or  seen  fraternizing 
with  a  Catholic  or  Protestant  minister. 

The  Hungarian  revolution  caused  the  political  martyrdom 
of  Leopold  Loew.  He  became  a  chaplain  of  the  national 
guard  and  went  into  the  field  of  battle.  His  revolutionary 


18  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

sermons  were  by  order  of  the  revolutionary  government  dis- 
tributed among  the  army.  Even  to-day  they  are  considered 
masterpieces  of  Magyar  pulpit-oratory  and  one  of  them, 
his  famous  "Az  Isten  veliink  vagyon" — (God  is  with  us)  is 
reprinted  in  more  than  one  handbook  of  Hungarian  elo- 
quence. Hungarian  literary  histories  refer  to  and  cite 
Loew's  Magyar  sermons  as  some  of  the  best  works  of  their 
kind  in  the  entire  range  of  Hungarian  literature. 

At  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war,  Loew  and  his  father- 
in-law  Schwab,  the  Chief  Rabbi  of  Pest,  were  arrested  by 
the  military  authorities  charged  with  "high  treason."  For 
ten  weeks  they  remained  in  prison.  Day  by  day  the  two 
Jewish  Rabbis  heard  one  or  the  other  of  their  prison-mates 
called,  saw  them  march  out  under  military  escorts,  then  they 
heard  the  ringing  out  of  the  shot  of  rifles,  or  the  thud  of 
the  weight  of  the  gallows  and  they  knew  the  fate  of  their 
former  fellow-prisoners.  Loew  and  Schwab  were  miracu- 
lously saved  by  an  appeal  to  Haynau,  the  military  commander 
of  Hungary,  made  by  an  Austrian  Princess  of  imperial 
blood,  to  whom  Loew's  wife  had  gone  in  the  last  hour  of 
her  despair,  reminding  her,  that  it  was  this  prisoner  Loew 
whom  she,  the  Princess,  had  at  one  time  rewarded  and  prom- 
ised her  good  will  for  reading  to  her  and  to  a  literary  circle 
of  hers — at  her  request  some  chapters  of  Isaiah  in  German 
and  in  French.  The  Princess  promptly  came  to  Loew's 
rescue.  Haynau  however,  notwithstanding  the  powerful 
pressure,  was  willing  to  free  the  two  prominent  leaders  of  the 
Jews  of  Hungary,  only  if  they  paid  a  ransom.  One  million 
guilden  was  the  price  set  for  their  liberty.  The  Jews  of 
Hungary  collected  the  amount  and  paid  it.  Loew  and 
Schwab  were  freed. 

When  in  _1863^  Francis  Joseph  became  desirous  of  being 
King  of  Hungary  de  jure — not  only  de  facto  as  he  had  been 
since  the  crushing  of  the  revolution, — that  is  to  say  when 
the  Magyar  nation  and  the  King  were  about  to  be  recon- 
ciled, Leopold  Loew,  at  an  audience  before  the  King,  pleaded 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  19 

for  the  remission  of  this  fine  of  one  million  guilden  paid  for 
the  participation  in  a  revolution  which  the  King  himself, 
by  his  own  actions,  had  stamped  as  "forgotten  and  for- 
given." The  plea  was  considered  to  be  just,  the  fine  re- 
mitted and  with  the  interest  accumulated  repaid  in  the  form 
of  a  fund,  out  of  which  Jewish  schools  and  institutions  of 
learning,  among  them  the  Jewish  Theological  Seminary 
of  Hungary  at  Budapest,  are  supported. 

This  "pardon"  story  of  Loew  by  Haynau  is  not  complete, 
without  telling  the  following  incident:  Loew's  "pardon" 
contained  the  command  that  thenceforth,  in  the  usual  prayer 
for  the  Emperor  and  the  Imperial  family,  interpolated  in  the 
Sabbath-service  he  must  also  add  a  prayer  for  Haynau. 
Loew,  of  course,  did  this  regularly  and  the  military  com- 
mander of  Hungary  was  prayed  for  as  ordered. 

In  1855  Leopold  Loew  while  in  Vienna,  on  a  visit  to 
friends,  saw  a  gorgeous  military  funeral  passing  the  street. 
On  inquiry  he  learned  that  it  was  the  funeral  of  Haynau, 
the  military  commander  of  Hungary.  Loew,  remembering 
that  after  all  it  was  Haynau  who  had  pardoned  him,  bared 
his  head  and  silently  followed  the  bier  for  a  few  blocks  and 
murmured  his  prayer  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  the 
dead.  When  Loew  returned  to  Szeged,  where  he  then  was 
Rabbi,  he  of  course  omitted  at  the  Saturday's  service  the 
prayer  for  Haynau.  Within  less  than  an  hour  after  the 
close  of  the  Sabbath  service  of  that  day,  Loew  was  sur- 
prised to  see  two  gendarmes  with  bayonets  fixed  enter  his 
house  and  command  him  to  follow  them.  He  was  taken  to 
the  city's  military  commander  and  there  was  charged  with 
having  broken  faith  by  neglecting  to  repeat  the  usual  prayer 
for  Haynau  at  that  morning's  service.  Loew  tried  to 
justify  his  act  by  telling  the  commander,  that  he,  Loew,  had 
been  at  the  funeral  of  Haynau  which  had  taken  place  earlier 
in  the  week  at  Vienna,  and  that  it  would  be  a  stupid  thing 
to  pray  for  a  man  dead  and  buried  the  same  prayer  which 
had  been  said  for  him  while  alive  and  in  office.  The  mili- 


20  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

tary  authorities  were  generous  enough  not  to  punish  Loew, 
but  only  to  "reprimand"  him,  and  ordered  him  to  continue 
his  prayers  for  Haynau,  until  he  should  be  officially  notified 
that  he  need  do  so  no  longer. 

The  religious  persecution  to  which  Leopold  Loew  was  sub- 
jected in  Papa  and  the  bitterness  of  the  days  of  the  Magyar 
revolution  caused  heart  rending  woe  to  his  good  wife, 
Leon  tine  Schwab  (the  daughter  of  his  teacher  Loew 
Schwab),  whom  he  had  married  in  June  1842.  The  angelic 
woman,  devoted  loyally  to  her  husband,  shared  with  him  his 
sorrows.  Her  sensitive,  delicate  soul  thoroughly  understood 
and  approved  her  husband's  religious  struggle  against 
hypocrisy,  superstition,  bigotry  and  ignorance,  and  she  bore 
bravely  the  heavy  burden  of  her  husband's  religious  martyr- 
dom. With  equal  fortitude  she  faced  the  terrible  dangers 
of  the  Magyar  revolution.  She  was  proud  of  her  husband, 
proud  of  her  father — both  of  whom  were  in  prison  for  the 
cause  of  freedom  and  the  fatherland. 

In  a  Diary  she  kept  (1849),  I  find  the  following  entry: 
February  22,  "Our  enemies" — (the  orthodox  jews  of  Papa) 
— "know  no  bounds  in  their  fanaticism.  They  still  occupy 
the  position  in  which  they  stood  an  hundred  years  ago.  Ac- 
cording to  them  a  good  priest  must  not  talk  and  walk  like 
other  decent  men;  he  can  not  be  a  good  priest  if  he  takes 
care  of  his  person  or  gives  a  thought  to  the  education  of  the 
youth.  He  must  know  the  talmudic  law  and  needs  no  other 
learning  of  any  kind.  He  must  not  be  civilized  or  cultured. 
No  wonder  they  condemn  Loew.  Has  he  not  everything  that 
they  find  to  be  faulty !  He  tells  them  face  to  face  that  it  is 
his  aim  in  life  to  enlighten  the  Jews,  to  civilize  them,  to 
educate  the  Jewish  youth  to  be  men  of  culture  and  refine- 
ment and  not  allow  them  to  remain  bigoted,  blind  zealots. 
Indeed  I  would  become  a  hater  of  humanity  should  I  judge 
mankind  by  the  men  around  me  here.  The  beauteous  great 
globe,  however,  so  full  of  God's  goodness,  must  surely  be  also 
inhabited  by  great  and  noble  souls.  It  is  but  an  ordeal  of 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  21 

fate  that  we  must  live  amidst  these  coarse,  spiteful,  inimical 
people.  I  hope,  however,  that  at  some  time  it  shall  be  given 
us  to  live  among  civilized  people  who  will  appreciate  Loew's 
efforts.  I  am  proud  of  my  beloved  father  who  is  honored 
by  so  many.  I  am  proud  of  my  dear  husband  who  is  only 
hated  because  of  his  prominence.  This  pride  gives  me 
strength  to  bear  the  cruel  bitterness  of  fate." 

Aug.  20th  "My  God!  My  God!  What  awful  rumors  are 
circulating!  At  Nagyvarad,  it  is  said,  the  Magyars  have 
been  defeated.  Gorgey  and  his  fifteen  thousand  men  have  been 
taken  prisoners  at  Vilagos.  Some  say  that  he  voluntarily 
surrendered  to  the  Austrians  to  whom  he  sold  himself.  Oh, 
I  do  not  believe  it!  I  can't  believe  it.  Gorgey  could  not 
have  become  a  traitor.  It  can  not  be  true!  God  grant  that 
these  rumors  prove  to  be  unfounded  and  that  soon  we  receive 
some  good  news." 

Aug.  22.  "They  are  still  talking  about  Gorgey.  .  .  . 
It  is  said  that  Kossuth  has  abdicated.  .  .  .  Terrible! 
Terrible  that  a  struggle  for  the  noblest  human  rights  should 
end  thus!" 

September  20th  and  23d.  "I  am  heartbroken.  My  father 
is  in  prison.  The  fate  of  my  husband's  future  fills  me  with 
anxiety.  Our  enemies  will  surely  take  advantage  of  the 
condition  of  affairs  and  charges  and  accusations  will  now 
pour  in." 

October  3d.  "We  just  received  the  latest  news  which  tells 
of  the  surrender  of  Komarom.  This  ends  Hungary's  heroic 
struggle.  I  never  want  to  read  another  newspaper." 

October  15th.  "The  time  of  the  ordeal  has  come.  My  good 
husband  has  also  been  put  into  prison  .  .  .  oh,  my  God, 
protect  him,  let  not  a  hair  of  his  head  be  touched.  Help 
me,  my  God,  strengthen  me  to  bear  the  weight  of  these  com- 
ing days. — Oh,  how  ill  I  am." 

Oct.  21.  "I  was  allowed  to  visit  my  husband  at  the  prison. 
I  saw  him  and  I  held  him  in  my  arms." 

Oct.  30.     "These  are  grievous,  sorrowful  days.     Only  care 


22  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

and  woe  are  my  share  in  life.  When  I  see  the  suffering  of 
the  others  my  own  suffering  grows  bearable.  I  am  longing 
to  see  my  children.  Goodby,  God  bless  you  my  dear  hus- 
band. I  must  go  to  our  children." 

Leopold  Loew  was  pardoned  on  December  19th,  1849,  and 
he  promptly  returned  to  Papa ;  remained  there,  however,  only 
a  few  months.  Within  a  few  hours — so  to  say — after  his  mi- 
raculous escape  from  prison,  probably  death — his  enemies  in 
the  city  of  Papa  began  to  embitter  his  life  and  to  take  steps 
to  supply  the  Austrian  authorities  with  "proofs"  of  Loew's 
"treason  to  the  country."  Promptly  he  accepted  a  call  just 
then  received  from  the  Jewish  congregation  of  Szeged,  the 
great  Magyar  city  of  the  Magyar  lowland.  In  December 
1850  he  assumed  the  Rabbinate  of  Szeged  and  filled  it  until 
his  death,  in  1875. 

His  salutatory,  a  sermon  of  great  force,  was  published  un- 
der the  title:  "Die  heiligen  Lehrer  der  Vorzeit,"  and  is  a 
bold  and  manly  reform-program  of  an  enlightened  mind  and 
a  truly  religious  soul. 

In  Szeged  Leopold  Loew  enjoyed  such  peace  as  he  had  not 
known  for  years  and  his  educational,  literary  and  theological 
labors  showed  the  beneficial  influence  of  his  happy  surround- 
ings. His  foremost  works  were  written  there,  and  the  longer 
he  remained  there,  the  more  closely  connected  he  became 
with  his  congregation  which  bore  him  a  love  that  grew  be- 
yond his  grave,  and  with  the  city  of  Szeged  which  honored 
and  respected  him  as  one  of  its  most  prominent  citizens, 
which  elected  him  into  its  council,  named  him  as  member 
of  all  committees  appointed  to  look  after  the  city's  welfare, 
made  him  a  member  of  its  most  exclusive  social  and  political 
clubs,  designated  him  as  its  spokesman  on  important  oc- 
casions. On  the  occasion  of  the  celebration  of  the  centenary 
of  the  birth  of  Leopold  Loew,  the  great  Catholic  city  of 
Szeged  named  one  of  its  principal  streets  in  his  memory: 
"Leopold  Loew  Street." 

While  in  Szeged  he  received  several  calls  from  other  con- 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  23 

gregations.  His  answer  was  invariably,  that  he  could  not 
leave  his  congregation  and  his  city.  He  was  also  offered  the 
Chief  directorate  of  the  '  '  Hochschule  f  iir  die  Wissenschaf  t  des 
Judenthuras"  at  Berlin,  Germany's  most  celebrated  Rab- 
binical Seminary  and  the  like  office  of  the  Jewish  Theological 
Seminary  of  Budapest,  Hungary,  both  of  which  he  declined. 
The  Mafteach,  an  introduction  to  the  Holy  Writ,  was  his 
first  great  work  published  in  Szeged  and  is  considered  still  a 
standard  work  of  Jewish  exegises. 


In  1858  Loew  again  took  up  the  publication  of  his  " 
Chananja"  begun  in  Papa.  It  was  first  a  monthly,  later  on 
;i  weekly  journal,  dedicated  to  Jewish  theology.  For  ten 
years  this  newspaper,  published  in  a  corner  of  Hungary, 
was  one  of  the  leading  exponents  of  Jewish  thought  and 
Jewish  science  throughout  the  European  continent. 

In  1863  he  was  cited  before  the  military  tribunals  — 
Hungary  was  then  under  military  rule.  The  government 
had  issued  an  order  relating  to  the  consent  necessary  to  be 
obtained  from  the  political  authorities  before  Jewish  wed- 
dings were  allowed  to  be  celebrated,  and  ordered  also  a 
revenue  tax  to  be  paid  in  the  form  of  stamp  on  and  for  the 
"Kethuba"  (marriage  contract).  Loew  criticised  this 
movement  of  the  government  in  unmeasured  terms  and 
through  this  criticism  caused  a  prompt  repeal  of  the  shame- 
ful tax.  He  was  sentenced  to  two  weeks'  imprisonment, 
which  sentence,  however,  the  military  commander  of  Szeged 
suspended.  "The  orders  of  the  government,"  he  was  told 
by  the  military  Judge  Advocate,  "are  not  issued  for  the  pur- 
pose of  being  criticised  by  you."  "And  yet,"  Loew  re- 
plied, "the  Minister  of  Finance  repeals  the  rescript  in  con- 
sequence of  this  very  criticism  of  mine." 

He  fared  similarly  when  in  1863  he  protested  against  the 
orders  of  the  government  appointing  special  overseers  of  the 
schools,  to  be  paid  by  the  Jewish  congregations.  In  his  pro- 
test he  used  the  following  language:  "The  Jews  of  Hungary 
do  not  beg;  they  ask  not  for  charity  in  their  religious  or  in 


24  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

their  educational  matters.  They  demand  full  and  unre- 
stricted enjoyment  of  civil  and  religious  rights,  because  they 
bear  all  burdens  of  citizenship." 

He  came  into  hostile  relationship  with  the  military  au- 
thorities again  because  he  refused  to  swear  some  Jewish  wit- 
nesses sent  to  him  by  a  court  of  law  to  administer  ' '  the  Jew- 
ish oath"  to  them.  He  was  threatened  with  imprisonment 
if  he  insisted  on  his  refusal  to  administer  the  oath.  Loew 
positively  refused ;  he  said  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  ' '  Jew- 
ish oath ' ' ;  again  and  again  he  received  official  rescripts  warn- 
ing him  against  his  "  contumaciousness. "  Loew  refused  and 
finally  the  Jewish  witnesses  were  sworn  as  were  all  other  wit- 
nesses, that  oath  being  administered  to  them  which  the 
law  of  the  land  prescribed.  Out  of  this  incident  arose  the 
request  of  the  government  to  him  to  give  his  views  on  the 
"more  Judaico."  His  "opinion"  is  an  exhaustive  his- 
torical essay  on  the  oath  of  the  Jews.  This  "Jewish  oath" 
opinion  of  the  Jewish  Rabbi  was  read  at  a  stated  meeting 
of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Budapest  and  printed 
in  its  academic  publications.  It  was  translated  into  German, 
French  and  English,  the  latter  translation  appearing  in 
The  Jewish  Times  (New  York,  1872,  Moritz  Ellinger,  Editor). 

Another  of  his  more  important  opinions  furnished  to  the 
government  was  "The  Jewish  Cult,"  an  historical  and  crit- 
ical essay,  which  also  received  an  English  translation  which 
appeared  in  the  columns  of  Rev.  Dr.  Isaac's  Jewish  Messenger 
of  New  York. 

The  government  of  Hungary,  before  the  "Ausgleich" 
(1867),  when  Hungary  was  but  a  conquered  province,  and 
the  government  of  Constitutional  Hungary,  again  and  again 
appealed  to  him  for  his  opinion  on  all  matters  relating  to 
Jewish  law,  ritual,  cult,  customs,  arising  in  the  congregations 
or  before  courts  of  law.  That  Constitutional  Hungary  should 
have  done  so  was  natural,  for  he,  the  loyal  patriot  had  helped 
to  bring  about  the  conditions  which  resulted  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  constitutional  government,  and  of  course  he  was 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  25 

''persona  grata";  but  the  former  government, — the  autocratic 
absolutism  looked  upon  him  with  suspicion,  surrounded  him 
with  spies, — yea,  the  funeral  orations  at  the  grave  of  mem- 
bers of  his  congregations  were  listened  to  by  "spitzels" — 
spies — who  reported  his  language  to  the  police  authorities — 
yet  it  respected  the  purity  of  his  character  and  his  great 
learning  and  though  "blacklisted"  as  a  citizen,  as  "a  dan- 
gerous rebel,"  again  and  again  he  was  asked  to  advise  the 
government  how  to  decide  the  Jewish  questions  with  which 
it  had  to  deal  and  was  asked  to  write  textbooks  for  the  pub- 
lic schools. 

His  written  opinions  upon  these  divers  subjects  fill  several 
volumes.  They  cover  a  variety  of  subjects.  For  instance, 
this  question  arose  between  a  congregation  and  its  Rabbi 
and  was  taken  into  a  court  by  both  parties: — "who  has  the 
right,  the  Rabbi  or  the  congregation,  to  set  the  hour  of  the 
opening  of  the  morning  service?"  Another:  "Can  a  congre- 
gation force  its  Rabbi  to  wear  an  official  robe,  or  has  the 
Rabbi  the  right  to  clothe  himself  in  any  kind  of  costume  he 
chooses?"  "Are  there  any  religious  functions  which  unmar- 
ried men  may  not  perform?"  "Is  it  permissible  to  plant 
trees  in  front  of  a  synagogue  ? "  or  "  Is  it  permissible  to  plant 
flowers  on  the  grave  of  departed  beloved  ones?"  or  "How 
high  must  the  railing  be  which  separates  the  women  from 
the  men  in  the  synagogue?"  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  such 
questions  did  arise,  and  the  two  governments  regarded  him 
and  recognized  him  as  the  foremost  authority  and  turned 
to  him  for  expert  opinion  on  all  matters  relating  to  communal 
and  ritual  controversies  which  the  different  factions  in  Juda- 
ism carried  into  the  courts  for  adjudication. 

Congregations,  Rabbis  and  individuals  likewise  promptly 
appealed  to  him  for  his  final  opinion  in  matters  relating  to 
Jewish  law  and  ritual,  etc.,  etc.,  instead  of  carrying  them 
into  courts  of  law.  None  of  these  "opinions"  of  Leopold 
Loew  are  ordinary  dicta,  the  decisions  of  a  man  forcing  his 
view  upon  another;  all  of  these  "opinions" — and  it  has  been 


26  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

mentioned  that  they  fill  several  volumes  and  cover  a  multi- 
tude of  questions  relating  to  Jewish  history,  ritual  and  law,-— 
are  studies  of  great  merit,  they  give  the  origin,  nature,  and 
development  of  customs,  rights  and  ceremonies  and  show  solid 
scholarship,  deep  erudition  and  broad,  comprehensive  knowl- 
edge of  the  Talmud  both  in  its  Haggadic  and  its  Halachic 
literature;  while  as  a  modern  savant,  they  show  him  to  be 
a  scientific  author  and  a  historian  of  the  foremost  rank. 

The  great  German  critic,  Franz  Delitzsch,  wrote  thus  about 
one  of  Leopold  Loew's  works  (Die  Lebensalter)  in  the  "Lit- 
erarisches  Centralblatt " :  "  The  author,  the  most  prominent 
among  the  Rabbis  of  Hungary  and  also  one  of  the  most  in- 
fluential members  of  the  Synod,  proves  in  the  work  before 
us,  not  only  his  magnificent  intimacy  with  the  whole  range 
of  Jewish  literature  into  its  very  closest  corners,  but  also  a 
knowledge  of  history  which  reminds  one  of  D 'Israeli's  'Curi- 
osities of  Literature';  he  is  a  surprisingly  well  read  mind, 
who  has  a  saying  of  Glaus  Harms  as  well  as  a  passage  of 
Heinrich  Heine  at  his  command;  he  masters  his  subject, 
which  in  its  form,  as  built  by  him,  is  an  architectural  beauty, 
and  in  its  style  is  an  artistic  gem,  which  teaches  pleasantly 
and  changes  the  most  abstruse  things  into  playthings  of 
charming  causeries. " 

The  great  Abraham  Geiger,  in  his  "Juedische  Zeitschrift 
fur  Wissenschaft  und  Leben"  speaks  thus  of  Loew's  ''Opin- 
ions, published  in  the  'Ben  Chananja'  ": 

' '  The  opinions  of  the  editor  upon  manifold  questions  which 
not  only  touch  matters  of  daily  life,  but  also  important  rites 
of  religion,  bear  witness  to  his  deep  insight  into  Jewish  life 
and  his  profound  learning  on  historical  and  theological  sub- 
jects. Such  contributions  are  of  enduring  value." 

The  "Ben  Chananja"  championed  not  only  the  cause  of 
reformed,  purified  Judaism  but  also  fought  courageously  and 
dauntlessly  for  the  rights  of  the  Hungarian  Jew.  When  in 
August,  1862,  Agost  Trefort — later  on  Minister  of  religious 
worship  and  education  in  constitutional  Hungary — made  his 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  27 

inaugural  speech  before  the  Hungarian  Academy  of  Sciences, 
he  made  a  remark  derogatory  to  the  Jews.  Leopold  Loew 
promptly  replied  to  him  in  an  "open  letter,"  which  created 
a  stir  all  over  Europe.  The  great  daily  papers  reprinted  it, 
and  from  the  most  distant  part  of  the  civilized  world  came 
letters  of  thanks  and  "addresses"  for  his  splendid  defense. 
The  Jewish  students  of  the  Universities  of  Budapest  and 
Vienna  presented  him  with  a  silver  loving  cup  and  torchlight 
parades  were  given  in  his  honor. 

With  the  close  of  the  year  1867  the  "Ben  Chananja" 
ceased  to  exist.  Loew  took  the  position  that  since  the  Jews 
in  Hungary  were  now  emancipated,  it  was  not  fair  that  a 
newspaper  devoted  to  their  interest  should  be  published  in 
the  German  language. 

He  devoted  his  time  to  his  historical  studies.  Some  of  his 
articles  relating  to  the  history  of  the  Jews  in  Hungary  were 
published  as  early  as  1841  in  Bush's  "Jahrbuch  fur  Israe- 
liten"  and  in  other  periodicals  and  newspapers. 

In  1870-71  he  published  two  volumes  of  his  "Graphische 
Requisiten"  which  were  followed  soon  after  by  another 
volume  "Die  Lebensalter, "  two  great  works  on  Jewish  or 
rather  Talmudical  Archaeology  of  which  science  he  is  the 
founder.  Still  another  volume  "Der  Synagogale  Ritus" 
remained  unfinished;  part  of  it  appeared  after  his  death  in 
"Frankel's  Monatschrif t "  and  the  full  MS.  was  printed  in 
the  "Gesammelte  Werke. "  The  volumes  are  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  the  history  of  civilization  of  the  Jews  and  in  a 
larger  sense  a  history  of  religion,  i.  e.,  the  religious  history 
of  the  Jews. 

Leopold  Loew's  historical  works,  his  works  pertaining  to 
the  political,  religious  and  cultural  history  of  the  Jews  in 
Hungary,  his  contributions  to  Biblical  exegesis,  his  studies 
in  Jewish  theology  and  dogmatism  fill  five  large,  quarto  vol- 
umes, edited  after  his  death  by  his  son  and  successor  to  the 
rabbinate  of  Szeged,  Dr.  Immanuel  Loew,  the  worthy  and 
the  great  son  of  a  great  father. 


28  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

A  collection  of  his  Magyar  sermons  published  under  the 
title  "Beszedek" — "Speeches" — received  a  full  and  lauda- 
tory review  in  the  Jewish  Times,  from  the  late  Anthony  Hof er, 
an  editorial  writer  of  the  New  York  Herald. 

The  national  life  of  his  country  was  closely  connected  with 
Loew's  rabbinical  life.  A  collection  of  his  published  ser- 
mons would  show  the  political  history  of  Hungary  during 
the  years  of  his  rabbinical  career.  "The  Dawn  of  the 
Kevolution"  (1840-1848),  "The  Heroic  Struggle"  (1848- 
49')  ;  "Vae  Victis"  (1850-63),  "The  Dawn  of  Constitutional 
Freedom"  (1863-67),  and  "Constitutional  Liberty  and 
Emancipation"  (1868-75)  are  the  headings  under  which  his 
sermons  and  speeches  could  be  classified. 

He  loved  to  celebrate  national-political  events  in  his  Tem- 
ple. His  commemoration  sermons,  delivered  on  the  deaths 
of  Gabriel  Klauzal,  Count  Ladislaus  Teleki,  Baron  Joseph 
Eotvos  and  Count  Stephen  Szechenyi,  four  famous  Magyar 
statesmen,  were  greatly  admired;  his  sermons  were  often  re- 
printed by  the  daily  journals  of  the  capital  of  Hungary  as 
masterpieces  of  sublime  patriotic  thought. 

His  position  in  Szeged  was  one  of  comparative  ease, 
yet  of  constant  struggle  and  care.  A  threefold  martyr,  po- 
litical, religious  and  literary,  he  was  ever  engaged  in  battle 
now  against  ignorance,  now  against  arrogance,  now  against 
the  blind  zeal  of  Chassidim,  now  against  the  impetuousness 
of  the  so-called  Parnassim, — the  plutocracy  of  "New  Jerusa- 
lem." 

The  Jewish  Congress  of  or  in  Hungary  knew  him  not  among 
its  delegates.  This  congress  was  a  pet  scheme  of  the  then 
minister  of  public  worship  and  education,  Baron  Joseph  Eo- 
tvos, a  truly  warm  friend  of  the  Magyar  Jew.  To  bring 
about  a  concentration  and  centralization  of  the  Jew  and  the 
Jewish  congregations  of  Hungary  under  the  paternal  care 
of  the  government  was  his  plan,  and  the  "Jewish  Congress" 
was  to  discuss  and  prepare  for  it. 

A  very  interesting  condition  of  affairs  arose  in  Hungary. 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  29 

Leopold  Loew,  the  very  foremost  of  reformers  and  the  most 
orthodox  Chassidim,  were  for  once  of  the  same  opinion,  to 
wit,  both  were  opponents  of  the  Jewish  Congress.  The  mo- 
tives of  their  objections  were,  however,  different.  Loew's  op- 
position to  the  centralization  of  Jewish  congregations  was 
based,  among  other  reasons,  on  the  fact  "that  the  historic 
conditions  under  which  a  Jewish  congress  could  and  should 
organize  the  Jewish  church  in  Hungary,  are  not  yet  under- 
stood, and  the  matter  is  in  the  hands  of  dilettantes,  who,  how- 
ever kindly  disposed,  forget  that  the  divine  command,  'in 
the  sweat  of  thy  brow  thou  shalt  eat  thy  bread, ' '  applies  here 
also  and  was  not  meant  to  refer  to  the  bread  we  actually  eat." 

Loew  was  a  member  of  the  Jewish  Synods  held  at  Leipzig 
and  at  Augsburg.  The  New  York  Herald's  correspondent 
said  of  him,  in  a  pen  picture,  that  his  patriarchal  appearance 
made  him  worthy  of  the  brush  of  a  Rembrandt,  while  his 
learning  and  eloquence,  his  kindness  and  geniality,  made  him 
a  beloved,  a  leading  member  of  that  noteworthy  gathering. 
His  reports  to  the  Synod,  as  for  instance  his  opinion  upon  the 
subject  of  riding  on  Sabbath  and  holidays,  are  full  of  pro- 
found learning  and  show  a  most  scrutinizing  examination  of 
the  subjects  of  which  they  treat.  In  a  characterization  of 
the  members  attending  the  Leipzig  Synod  we  read  about 
Loew:  "As  soon  as  he  raises  his  voice,  he  dominates  his  audi- 
ence. Each  of  his  words  is  deliberate  and  reflected.  The 
fullness  of  his  Talmudical  knowledge,  the  natural  logic  of 
his  conclusions,  his  thoughtful  exposition  of  the  scriptural 
text,  indicate  the  acute  thinker.  His  words  expressed  in  a 
lovely,  gentle  manner,  are  gladly  complied  with.  How  profit- 
able it  is  to  be  in  his  company." 

Leopold  Loew's  reform  program  was  based  on  the  lessons 
to  be  drawn  from  what  he  called  "the  historical  school." 
Beneath  a  picture  of  his  he  wrote  the  following  motto:  "Pa- 
tience! The  future  of  Judaism  belongs  to  that  school  which 
can  best  understand  the  past." 

At  the  central  conference  of  American  Rabbis  held  on  July 


30  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

3d,  1911,  at  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  Rabbi  Julius  Rappaport  of  Chi- 
cago, 111.,  read  a  paper  in  memory  of  Leopold  Loew.  The 
Chicago  Rabbi's  contribution  to  the  centenary  of  Leopold 
Loew  is  written  with  such  generously  fair  appreciation  and 
with  such  thorough  grasp  of  Loew 's  life  and  life 's  work,  that, 
in  conclusion,  I  cannot  abstain  from  citing  therefrom  in 
extenso. 

"In  these  days  of  Zionism  and  nationalism  it  will  be  in- 
teresting to  learn  Loew's  opinion  in  reference  to  Jewish  na- 
tionalism. In  the  argument  against  emancipation  the  Jews 
were  charged  with  being  a  nation  within  a  nation.  Leopold 
Loew  protested  against  such  charges  and  declared  that: 
'Jews  are  only  a  religious  community  and  are  members  of 
the  countries  in  which  they  live.  The  French  Jews  are  as 
much  strangers  to  the  German  Jews,  and  these  in  turn  to 
the  Italian  Jews,  these  again  to  the  English  Jews,  as  are  the 
Christian  inhabitants  of  these  countries  to  the  Christians  of 
other  countries.  The  laws  of  the  countries  in  which  they 
happen  to  live  are  their  (the  Jews')  laws;  the  interests  of 
the  country,  their  interests;  the  national  hopes,  their  own 
hopes.  No,  the  Jews  have  no  distinct  nationality.  They  are 
only  a  religious  community.  Much  as  we  are  inclined  to 
believe  in  the  Old  Testament  prophecy,  the  restoration  of  the 
Jewish  state  to-day  is  altogether  an  Utopia.'  In  the  same 
spirit  he  replies  to  the  author  of  'Rome  and  Jerusalem.' 
'We  hold  the  author's  program  of  a  Jewish  nation  for  an 
empty  phantom.  From  the  mixture  of  Germanic  and  Gallic 
ingredients  you  cannot  form  a  Jewish  nation.' 

"Interesting  as  it  would  be,  time  will  not  permit  me  to 
enter  upon  an  analysis  of  his  contributions  towards  the  history 
of  Jews  and  Judaism  in  general  such  as  '  Gesch.  d.  Mahrischen 
Landesrabbinates, '  'Das  Vereinswesen  in  Israel,'  'Die  Grosse 
Synode,'  Gesch.  d.  Kabbala,  and  those  of  Hungary  in  special, 
many  articles  and  brochures  upon  which  he  has  issued  e.  g. 
'Ungar,  Municipalien  u.  Juden,'  'Gesch.  d.  Ung.  Sabbathaer, ' 
'Vergang.  u.  Gegenw.  d.  Hassidier, '  and  above  all  a  greater 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  31 

volume,  'Der  Juedische  Congress,'  pertaining  to  the  po- 
litical, religious  and  cultural  history  of  the  Jews  of 
Hungary. 

"To  analyze  or  even  to  enumerate  all  the  writings  of  Loew 
is  impossible  in  a  short  sketch.  The  mere  bibliography  of 
his  works  in  the  fifth  volume  of  his  Ges.  Schriften  comprise 
19  closely  printed  pages,  and  we  simply  mention  here  such 
as  'Die  Grundlehre  d.  Rel.  Israels,'  'Juedische  Dogmen,' 
'  Die  Tradition, '  '  Eherechtl.  Studien, '  and  many  other  studies 
in  Jewish  theology  and  dogmatism.  Loew's  efforts  are  bent 
upon  providing  the  religious  history  of  the  Jews.  He  set  out 
'  To  illumine  the  darkness  in  which  former  generations  walked 
till  they  had  arrived  at  the  place  where  I  and  my  time  stand. ' 
Applying  the  searchlight  of  scientific  rules  of  philology  to 
the  pages  of  the  Talmud  and  investigating  it  with  the  critical 
eye  of  the  scholar,  Loew  endeavors  to  prove  that  the  so-called 
oral  tradition  of  the  Mishna  from  Biblical  times  is  untenable. 
The  importance  of  Loew  in  the  service  of  the  science  of  reli- 
gion was  fully  recognized  by  the  master  of  that  science,  Abra- 
ham Geiger,  when  he  says,  'To  make  clear  to  our  age  the 
inner  struggle  of  Rabinism  and  Talmudism,  to  prove  how  in 
spite  of  all  stagnation  the  latter  teachers — and  at  that  not 
only  the  philosophically  trained  ones — had  their  independent 
convictions  which  they  did  not  sacrifice  blindly,  to  prove  this, 
is  the  very  meritorious  service  which  Leopold  Loew  rendered, 
the  service  of  strengthening  the  recognition  that  in  Judaism 
the  free  decision  has  never  placed  itself  under  the  letter  of 
the  Talmud.'  " 

Leopold  Loew's  personal  position  in  Hungary  was  indeed  a 
most  remarkable  one.  Jew  and  Christian  loved,  honored,  es- 
teemed and  revered  him.  Rich  and  poor,  high  and  low  vied 
•with  each  other  to  do  him  reverence.  When  generals  of  the 
army,  ministers  of  the  state,  dignitaries  of  the  Catholic, 
Protestant  and  Greek  Catholic  Churches,  savants  of  the 
nation,  came  to  Szeged,  they  promptly  paid  their  tribute  of 
respect  by  calling  on  him.  On  momentous  historic  occasions 


32  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

when  the  city  or  county  designated  a  committee  or  body  of 
men  to  represent  it,  Leopold  Loew  was  invariably  at  the  head 
of  such  committee  or  deputation  or  was  the  spokesman  of  the 
occasion.  On  numberless  occasions,  at  county  meetings,  po- 
litical festivals,  national  events,  banquets  of  public  bodies, 
it  was  always  Leopold  Loew  who  was  invited  and  honored  to 
be  the  speaker  of  the  occasion. 

The  dedication  of  Jewish  synagogues — he  consecrated,  I 
think,  fifteen  of  them, — were  made  national-political  events, 
simply  because  "the  famous  Leopold  Loew"  was  to  deliver 
the  dedicatory  sermon,  the  great  newspapers  of  the  metropolis 
eagerly  reprinted  the  speech. 

In  Czegled,  an  important  city  of  the  Magyar  lowland, 
the  crowd  which  had  assembled  to  hear  his  memorial  sermon 
for  Count  Ladislaus  Teleki,  surging  into  the  synagogue,  had 
grown  so  big,  that  it  was  decided  to  adjourn  to  the  public 
square  of  the  city.  The  Jewish  Eabbi  was  accompanied  by 
the  Catholic  and  Protestant  clergy  and  the  city  and  county 
authorities, — the  bells  of  the  churches  ringing, — to  the  mar- 
ketplace where  he  delivered  one  of  the  greatest  speeches  of 
his  life.  A  banquet  and  a  torchlight  procession  headed,  and 
led  by  and  consisting  in  the  main  of  Gentiles,  wound  up  the 
memorial  services  of  a  Jewish  congregation.  On  May  8th, 
1911,  a  month  before  the  centenary  of  Leopold  Loew,  "Szeged 
es  Videke,"  a  daily  newspaper  of  Szeged,  edited  by  Dr. 
Balassa,  mentioning  the  approaching  100th  birthday  of  Leo- 
pold Loew,  reprinted  this  "Teleki  Laszlo"  speech  of  Leopold 
Loew.  The  "Szegedi  Naplo, " — editor  Ladislaus  Tafar, — the 
most  powerful  daily  newspaper  in  the  Magyar  lowland,  be- 
sides publishing  a  series  of  highly  appreciative  leading  arti- 
cles about  Loew  and  Loew's  work  and  his  biography,  re- 
printed some  of  Loew's  famous  after-dinner  speeches,  and 
columns  of  interesting  reminiscences  and  anecdotes.  The  as- 
sociate editor  of  this  paper,  Mr.  Edward  Kisteleki,  a  Magyar 
poet  of  high  repute,  published  a  story  of  the  life  of  Leopold 
Loew  in  pamphlet  form,  which  was  distributed — as  his  gift — 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  33 

on  the  day  of  the  centenary  among  the  school  boys  of  the 
city. 

Of  the  consecration  of  a  temple  at  Semlin  an  amusing  anec- 
dote is  told:  the  General  of  the  army  stationed  at  the  foot 
of  the  city  was  also  present,  an  honored  guest,  with  the  other 
dignitaries  of  the  district — of  the  congregation.  Loew  de- 
livered the  dedicatory  sermon;  as  usual  he  was  most  elo- 
quent. At  one  of  the  passages  spoken  by  Loew  in  his  usual 
eloquent  manner,  he  said,  "Give  the  Jew  a  fatherland  and 
he  will  love  his  fatherland."  The  old  general  became  so 
enthusiastic  that  impulsively  he  drew  his  sword  and  saluted 
the  Rabbi!  The  adjutant  of  the  general,  waiting  for 
him  at  the  entrance  of  the  Synagogue  thought  his  chief's 
action  to  be  a  sign  for  general  salute  and  also  drew  his 
sword;  the  company  of  soldiers — the  guard  of  honor  of 
the  general, — stationed  in  front  of  the  building,  promptly 
responded  by  discharging  their  rifles  and  from  the  fort 
of  the  town  came  the  response  in  the  roaring  of  the 
cannon. 

In  Szeged  he  was  simply  idolized.  Old  peasants  and 
peasant  women,  school  boys  and  school  girls  would  gather 
around  him,  eager  to  have  a  chance  to  kiss  his  hands.  He 
knew  everybody  and  everybody  knew  him;  with  the  clergy 
of  the  other  denominations  of  his  city  he  stood  on  terms  of 
intimate  friendship  and  with  two  of  the  cardinal  princes  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  churches  of  Hungary,  Their  Eminences 
Cardinals  Haynald  and  Lonovics,  he  maintained  a  friendly 
relationship.  The  Right  Rev.  Alexander  Bonnaz,  Bishop 
of  Szatmar,  to  which  diocese  the  city  of  Szeged  belonged 
and  the  "provost"  of  Szeged,  Right  Rev.  Father  Anthony 
Kreminger,  who  for  nearly  50  years  was  the  leader  of 
the  Catholic  Church  of  the  Catholic  city  of  Szeged,  were  his 
dear  friends  and  even  to-day,  37  years  after  the  death  of 
Loew,  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  love  to  tell  anecdotes  about 
the  three  priests,  showing  the  mutual  love  and  esteem  in 
which  thev  held  each  other. 


34  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

On  the  13th  of  October,  1875,  he  died.  His  funeral  was 
a  national  affair.  Men  like  Count  Coloman  Tisza,  then  Min- 
ister President  of  Hungary,  Louis  Kossuth,  the  great  exile  in 
Italy,  leaders  of  thought  of  Hungary  and  other  countries  of 
Europe,  declared  his  death  to  be  a  national  loss.  More  than 
an  hundred  congregations  and  religious  and  social  and  polit- 
ical and  the  philanthropic  bodies  of  the  land  sent  their  dep- 
utations to  the  funeral,  and  delegates,  and  letters  and  dis- 
patches of  sympathy  and  condolence  poured  in  from  all  parts 
of  the  civilized  world. 

Leopold  Loew  was  married  twice.  I  have  mentioned  his 
first  wife  and  cited  from  her  "diary"  sufficiently  to  show 
how  much  that  noble  woman  suffered.  When  her  husband 
reached  the  haven  of  rest,  the  appreciative,  the  patriotic  and 
the  intelligent  city  of  Szeged,  she  was  given  only  six  months 
to  enjoy  it;  then  came  cold,  cruel  death.  God  bless  her 
memory.  Leopold  Loew's  second  wife  was  Babette  Redlich, 
the  daughter  of  an  honored  citizen  of  Magyar  Kanizsa,  a 
village  near  Szeged.  She  became  the  mother  of  six  orphan 
children,  the  oldest  about  10  years  old.  She  herself  bore 
seven  children,  so  that  there  were  thirteen  under  her  loving 
care.  What  a  gloriously  noble  hearted,  dear  old  "step- 
mother" she  was.  The  writer,  for  instance,  one  of  these  thir- 
teen children,  never  knew  she  was  not  in  truth  his  own  mother, 
until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age;  then  as  he  was  about 
to  leave  home,  she  took  him  to  the  cemetery  and  leading  him 
to  a  grave  she  tearfully  told  him  that  he  stood  before  the 
grave  of  his  own  mother,  and  together  they  bent  their  knees 
and  prayed.  Love,  affection,  kindness,  generosity,  forbear- 
ance, patience,  sweetness  of  nature,  gentleness  of  speech,  piety, 
charity,  characterized  her,  she  was  all  loyalty,  all  devotion, 
all  unselfishness,  a  martyr  to  maternal  duty. 

His  oldest  daughter,  Amalia,  married  Dr.  Benedict  Baracs, 
then  (1863)  one  of  the  first  Jewish  lawyers  in  Hungary,  for 
until  about  1862,  the  Jews  of  Hungary  were  barred  from 
entering  that  profession.  Dr.  Jur.  Henry  Baracs,  the  well- 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  35 

known  publicist  of  Cleveland,  0.,  is  a  grandson  of  Leopold 
Loew. 

Leopold  Loew's  oldest  son,  Dr.  Jur.  Tobias  Loew,  achieved 
the  highest  honors  until  then  ever  achieved  by  a  Jew  in  Hun- 
gary. He  advanced  to  the  position  of  Deputy  Attorney  Gen- 
eral, which  high  office  is  not,  as  it  is  in  the  State  of  New  York 
or  in  the  U.  S.,  a  political  position  or  a  temporary  one  de- 
pending on  the  success  of  one  or  the  other  political  party,  but 
is  an  important  judicial  position  and  a  life  appointment.  He 
left  three  sons,  each  one  of  them  following  the  footsteps  of 
their  illustrious  sires.  Dr.  Tibor  Loew  is  a  judge,  Dr.  Lorant 
Loew  is  a  leading  lawyer  and  author,  Andrew  Loew  is  the 
superintendent  of  a  landed  estate  of  several  thousand  acres 
of  farmland. 

Another  son  of  Leopold  Loew  is  Dr.  Samuel  Loew,  M.  D., 
Sanitary  Councilor  of  the  Kingdom,  Knight  of  the  Order  of 
Francis  Joseph,  Chief  Examining  Physician  of  the  Magyar 
Life  Assurance  Society,  one  of  the  leading  men  of  his  pro- 
fession in  Hungary. 

Another  son  is  the  celebrated  Chief  Rabbi  of  Szeged.  Dr. 
Immanuel  Loew,  Knight  of  the  Order  of  Francis  Joseph, 
author  of  famous  works  on  the  Botany  and  the  Zoology 
of  the  Talmud,  a  philologist  of  high  authority  in  Europe, 
consulting  editor  of  the  Jewish  Encyclopedia  published 
in  New  York,  Hungary's  greatest  Jewish  pulpit  orator,  a 
great  preacher  and  leader  of  Israel. 

Another  son,  Dr.  Jur.  Theodore  Loew  was  the  pride  of  the 
Loew  family,  made  so  by  his  qualities  of  heart  and  mind. 
He  was  a  practicing  attorney  of  Budapest,  counsel  to  some  of 
the  very  most  important  financial  and  industrial  institutions 
of  the  country.  He  was  the  author  of  important  law  books 
and  stood  high  in  his  profession. 

Dr.  Phil.  Leo  Fleischer  and  Otto  Fleischer,  probably  the 
foremost  pioneers  of  the  "ammunition  industry"  of  the  dual 
monarchy — Austria  and  Hungary  ("the  Austrian  Krupps" 
as  they  are  called),  are  Leopold  Loew's  grandsons,  children 


36  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

of  his  daughter  Josephine  who  married  Mr.  Ignatz  Fleischer, 
a  railroad  contractor  and  builder  of  Vienna,  Austria. 

Moses  Loew,  another  son,  is  a  leading  architect  of  Vienna. 
Henry  Loew,  the  youngest  son,  who  had  been  in  the  banking 
business,  retired  early  from  his  business  to  devote  himself  to 
his  passionate  love  of  travel,  visiting  the  art  treasures  of 
Europe. 

His  daughters,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Loew  Breitner,  Mrs.  Jose- 
phine Loew  Fleischer,  Mrs.  Johanna  Loew  Wolf  and  Mrs. 
Leontine  Loew  Boros,  are  genuine  mothers  in  Israel,  lovable, 
sweet  women. 

Two  of  Leopold  Loew's  children  died  very  young,  one, 
Simon,  in  his  tenderest  infancy,  one — Therese — in  the  very 
bloom  of  beauteous  youth,  at  the  age  of  twenty. 

Mrs.  Rosalie  Loew  Whitney,  the  well-known  woman  lawyer 
of  New  York  city,  the  wife  of  Travis  H.  Whitney,  is  a  grand- 
daughter of  Leopold  Loew. 

His  other  grandchildren  living  in  the  United  States  are: 
Amalia  Loew,  Moses  Washington  Loew,  Leopold  Loew,  John 
Tobie  Loew  and  Mrs.  Fredericka  Loew  Coussirat,  the  wife  of 
Henry  A.  D.  Coussirat,  Esqr. 

His  tombstone  bears  the  following  inscription  (in  Magyar 
language  of  course)  : 

"Here  lies  Chief  Rabbi  Leopold  Loew,  Champion  of  the 
Magyarization,  the  progress  and  the  emancipation  of  the 
Jews  of  Hungary.  Born  in  Csernahora  on  May  22,  1811, 
was  chosen  as  Chief  Rabbi  of  Nagy  Kanizsa  in  1841, 
of  Papa  in  1846  and  of  Szeged  in  1850.  Died  in  Szeged  on 
October  13,  1875,  was  buried  on  October  17th. 

Blessed  be  his  memory. 

"In  peace  and  war  he  carried  to  victory  the 
flag  of  Faith,  Fatherland  and  Science.  The 
hero  is  at  rest,  his  congregation  and  his 
family  weep  for  him.  Faith,  Fatherland  and 
Science  guard  his  memory." 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  37 

In  November,  1910,  the  pride  of  the  Loew  family,  Theo- 
dore, died.  The  living  Loews,  suffering  from  the  blow,  but 
vying  to  console  each  other  in  their  letters,  expressed  the 
wish  to  celebrate  "the  next"  anniversary  of  Papa's  birth- 
day at  a  "Family  Reunion"  to  be  held  in  the  dear  old  nest 
at  Szeged. 

It  was  to  be  a  strictly  private  and  family  affair,  but  when 
the  congregation  and  the  city  learned  of  the  intentions  of  the 
family,  it — the  festival — promptly  became  a  municipal,  state 
and  national  affair  and  on  June  4th,  1911,  the  centenary  of 
Leopold  Loew  was  celebrated. 

A  similar  festival,  the  centennial  of  the  birthday  of  a  Jew- 
ish rabbi,  the  world  probably  has  never  before  heard  of. 

The  memory  of  a  Jewish  rabbi,  celebrated  by  the  Jews  of 
Hungary,  the  celebration  participated  in  by  a  Christian  com- 
munity, memorial  addresses  delivered  by  leading  savants  of 
the  Hungarian  nation,  by  a  leading  Protestant  and  a  well- 
known  Roman  Catholic  priest,  laudatory  mention  thereof 
made  in  the  Magyar  Parliament,  the  great  journals  of  the 
land  "writing  it  up"  in  editorials  and  in  reviews  and  no- 
tices, learned  societies  taking  notice  thereof  at  their  meetings 
in  the  form  of  resolutions  of  appreciation  and  acknowledg- 
ment and  eulogistic  speeches,  and  a  Catholic  city  of  120,000 
inhabitants  naming  one  of  its  principal  streets  "Leopold 
Loew  Street,"  is  surely  an  unique,  a  rare,  but  at  the  same 
time  a  splendid  and  flattering  evidence  of  the  worth  of  the 
man  and  of  the  grateful  appreciation  of  those  amidst  whom 
he  devoted  his  life  to  all  that  is  good,  noble  and  elevating. 

WM.  N.  LOEW. 

New  York,  May  22d,  1912. 


LEOPOLD  LOEW. 

A    LECTURE,    DELIVERED    AT    THE    "CENTENARY"    BY    PROFESSOR 
MAURUS   KARMAN   DE   KISLAK. 

Honored  President,  Respected  Guests: 

IT  is  only  with  deep  emotion  and  due  reflection  that  I  dare 
raise  my  voice  here,  at  this  place  and  on  this  occasion. 

The  playful  and  sentimental  memories  of  my  childhood 
and  my  youth  rise  around  me.  I  find  in  them  order  and  co- 
herency only  if  I  distinctly  follow  the  threads  of  my  moral 
development  and  tread  the  path  of  my  own  growth. 

Next  to  the  example  of  my  good  parents,  the  thoughtful 
father's  sacrificing  industry,  the  devoted  mother's  affection- 
ate care,  rises  especially  the  influence  of  that  sublime  mind 
and  forceful  soul,  whose  memory  on  this  one  hundredth  an- 
niversary of  his  birth  we  intend  to  celebrate  in  a  manner 
which  bears  witness  to  the  welfare  of  our  nation,  our  religion 
and  our  homes.  In  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  as  far  as 
systematic,  school-like  instruction  is  concerned  I  am  in  no 
greater  measure  a  scholar  of  the  great  man  than  is  any  other 
member  of  this  congregation  of  my  age;  but  by  the  grace  of 
Providence  my  education  fell  into  the  most  beautiful  days 
of  his  wide-horizoned,  epochal  activity,  and  he  gave  me  the 
opportunity  to  follow  his  mind's  very  foundations,  as  he  did 
to  my  knowledge  to  no  other  man;  so  that  now,  in  my  old 
age,  without  boasting,  I  can  truthfully  say  I  have  been  his 
most  devoted  admirer  and  disciple. 

Apart  from  my  natural  gratitude,  I  accepted  the  invita- 
tion of  this  esteemed  congregation  for  the  reason  that  I 
would  have  an  opportunity,  not  only  in  deeds,  for  I  have 

38 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  39 

aspired  to  do  this  in  all  my  activities,  but  in  living  words 
also,  to  explain  what  among  the  many  excellent  factors  of 
our  national  life  and  the  development  of  our  Hungarianism 
the  influence  of  Leopold  Loew  in  reality  means.  My  task 
shall  be  to  do  this  in  bold  outlines,  because  to  think  it  out 
consecutively  and  in  its  details  cannot  be  done  within  the 
space  of  a  festal  oration.  Still  less  permissible  is  it  to  waste 
iny  time  with  petty  reminiscences,  of  which  I  have  a  wealth 
of  material,  because  I  must  carefully  see  that  the  individual 
influences  shall  not  assume  too  great  importance  in  compari- 
son with  that  which  is  substantial,  universal,  and  imperish- 
able in  his  memory. 

You,  gentlemen,  know, — because  this  period  of  his  life  is 
pretty  well  known — that  Leopold  Loew  came  to  Szeged 
steeled  by  his  experiences  of  our  fierce  sectarian  struggles 
and  our  great  national  crisis;  that  here,  while  not  amidst  the 
most  favorable  material  conditions,  he  at  least  could,  with 
peaceful  stability  and  joyful  liberty,  complete  the  task  of  his 
life.  However,  the  aims  and  principles  of  his  calling  led 
him ;  just  as  when  they  had  become  the  goal  to  his  youthful 
hopes,  he  prepared  himself  with  exemplary  conscientiousness 
for  his  future  career;  and  then  as  an  alien  by  birth,  he 
sought  with  indomitable  steadfastness  and  found  within  the 
boundaries  of  this  land  a  suitable  field  for  his  activity.  Not 
the  interests  of  sectarian  jealousy  and  not  the  desire  to  secure 
for  the  rabbinical  position  a  superiority  were  with  him  the 
bases  of  his  demand  that  he  be  not  only  the  rabbi  of  his  con- 
gregation, but  also  the  director  of  its  schools.  Although  his- 
torically he  could  bring  the  office  of  the  Rabbi  in  connection 
with  the  prophetic  teachings,  he  preferred  to  have  it  united 
with  popular  education  and  public  instruction.  And  thus, 
I  think,  I  commit  no  sin  against  the  truth  if  I  give  expression 
to  the  appreciation  of  the  greatness  of  his  life  in  the  very 
words  with  which  at  the  very  outset  of  his  career,  he  char- 
acterized the  final  aims  of  education  and  teaching.  He  said : 
"We  can  appreciate  and  we  judge  an  educational  institution 


40  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

according  as  it  fulfills  its  threefold  scope :  namely,  its  human, 
its  religious,  and  its  national  aims." 

In  the  united  service  of  humanity,  religion  and  nationality 
or  to  put  it,  in  view  of  his  personal  position,  more  distinctly, 
in  the  harmonious  union  of  human  culture,  true  Jewish  faith 
and  Magyar  nationality  the  hero  of  our  celebration  saw  the 
province  of  his  high  calling.  Truly,  these  were  the  ideals  of 
his  life;  of  every  phase  of  these  he  was  a  champion;  his  in- 
sistence on  the  emancipation  of  the  Jews,  his  suggestions  for 
the  reform  of  the  ritual  and  divine  service,  the  demand  for 
the  spread  of  Magyarization  were  all  but  means  wherewith 
to  labor  for  the  more  thorough  realization  of  those  leading 
principal  ideals  of  his.  Let  me  be  permitted  to  request  your 
kind  attention  to  my  proof  of  this,  his  peculiar  view.  The 
tendency  of  this  conception  is  universal  in  its  general  bear- 
ings, it  speaks  to  everybody  everywhere,  to  individuals  and 
to  peoples ;  in  a  more  decided  form  it  can  especially  assist  us 
in  the  difficulties  of  the  public  affairs  of  our  epoch  and  our 
own  land  and  especially  so  in  the  general  turmoil  of  their 
sectarian  and  national  struggles. 

I.  "Race- wide"  must  be  our  culture.  This  is  in  Loew's 
program  the  first  demand.  Its  foundation  evidently  is  that 
undeniable  axiomatic  truth  that  culture  is  not  the  creation 
of  one  country  or  of  some  particular  race,  or  of  a  certain 
epoch.  Every  part  of  the  human  race  of  the  globe  has  a 
share  in  it ;  all  nations  of  the  world  as  they  come  into  his- 
torical connection  with  one  another  have  contributed  to  it 
their  own  share ;  and  at  the  same  time  every  cultural  achieve- 
ment remains  the  permanent  possession  of  humanity  at  large. 
The  spreading  of  education,  the  spreading  of  culture  is  the 
race-wide  aim  without  any  racial,  social,  religious  or  national 
restrictions. 

A  twofold  duty  arises  out  of  this  fact,  and  not  only  to 
the  individual,  but  to  all  mankind.  In  the  first  instance  a 
man  must  not, — unless  he  wishes  to  deny  that  he  is  human, — 
exclude  himself  from  any  one  of  the  branches  of  cultural 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  41 

growth  as  it  develops  in  every  direction,  but  he  must  follow 
with  appreciative  interest  all  of  the  revelations  of  the  human 
mind. 

As  to  the  second  duty  mentioned,  let  it  be  stated  that  no 
one — without  any  exception, — must  be  barred  from  the  paths 
of  culture;  but  an  unrestricted,  boundless  field  must  be  left 
to  every  cultural  effort  and  every  enthusiastic  aim  thereof 
must  be  met  with  sympathetic  help. 

I  believe  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  explain  in  detail  and  in 
specific  terms  the  importance  of  the  consequences  if  this  tenet 
extended  its  influence  over  all  the  world.  However,  there  is 
beneath  it  a  view  of  life,  which  in  its  entirety,  has  not  yet 
taken  deep  root  in  every  human  community,  but  to  us, — the 
children  of  Israel — it  is  our  ancient  though  not  always  recog- 
nized tradition.  We  can  not  honor  Loew's  memory  more 
worthily  than  by  characterizing  this  conception  in  his  own 
language  and  appreciatingly  remembering  how  he  brought 
this  idea  into  connection  with  the  solution  of  the  so  long  de- 
layed and  even  to-day  often  agitated  question  of  the  national- 
ization of  the  Jews. 

At  the  consecration  of  a  new  synagogue,  at  a  place  where 
but  a  short  time  before  only  a  few  homeless  Jewish  families 
had  found  a  resting  place,  he  made  the  "Emancipation  of 
the  Jews"  the  subject  of  his  discourse,  and  he  spoke  as  fol- 
lows (The  Emancipation  of  the  Jews,  speech  delivered  on  the 
occasion  of  the  newly  built  synagogue  at  Semlin,  October  8, 
1863)  :  "The  pious  and  thoughtful  Israelite  will  follow  with 
sympathy  and  care  the  civilizatory  condition  of  his  race.  Far 
distant  from  him  is  the  thought  that  civil  liberty  and  civil 
virtues  are  indifferent  to  him,  because  they  are  only  earthly 
blessings  and  that  the  pious  soul  may  long  only  for  Heavenly 
bliss.  Such  sickly  one-sidedness  is  in  contradiction  with  the 
ideals  of  our  ancient  teachings,  yea  even  with  the  very  letter 
thereof.  The  Thora  does  by  no  means  demand  that  man 
should  despise  the  earth,  which  the  Creator  has  assigned 
to  him  as  his  home;  does  not  at  all  demand  of  him  that 


42  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

earthly  life,  its  aims  and  aspirations,  its  difficulties  and  their 
solutions,  be  looked  upon  by  him  but  as  playthings  of  no  value, 
which  may  tie  down  only  a  sinful  soul.  It  positively  con- 
demns this  fanatic  superstition,  which  makes  man  an  inhuman 
thing,  when  it  intends  to  raise  him  to  the  height  of  a  super- 
human being.  On  the  first  pages,  it  teaches  us:  'And  God 
said,  let  us  create  man  in  our  own  image,  that  he  rule  over 
the  fish  of  the  sea,  the  bird  of  the  sky  and  over  the  cattle 
of  the  earth.'  Man  could  not  rise  to  the  power  of  reigning 
over  the  earth,  which  is  assigned  to  him  as  his  vocation,  if 
in  lazy,  deedless  dreaming  he  turned  from  the  Earth  .  .  ." 

"The  Earth  needs  man  to  improve  it,  but  man  too  needs 
the  earth  to  improve  himself  and  develop  his  God-given 
strength  and  abilities  according  to  his  mission.  This  mis- 
sion of  his  demands  that  he  stand  solidly  on  the  Earth  and 
take  deep  root  therein  .  .  ."  "The  shiftless  wandering 
life,  when  man  does  not  establish  himself  anywhere  and  is  not 
lovingly  tied  to  one  soil  whereon  he  lives,  is  a  contradiction 
of  his  mission  and  of  his  human  nature  .  .  ." 

This  is  a  definition  of  culture  which  makes  the  peopling 
of  the  earth  and  the  conquest  over  nature  to  be  the  task  of 
humanity  and  which  in  its  entire  depth  and  sublimity  our 
own  epoch  appreciates  best.  If  we  consider  the  thorough 
recognition  of  man's  place  in  nature  and  his  control  and 
adaptation  thereof  to  be  our  human  civilization,  then  we  may 
boldly  say,  that  its  clean-cut,  undisturbed  recognition  is  the 
foundation  of  every  other  intellectual  achievement.  Without 
the  fulfillment  of  this  first  elementary  claim  which  rests  upon 
the  necessities  of  universal  human  fate  and  mission,  every 
other  moral  obligation  or  social  formation  which  serves  only 
particular,  peculiar  interests,  loses  its  justification. 

Universal  human  civilization,  which  considers  the  common 
aim  of  mankind,  is  not  only  the  foundation  stone,  but  doubt- 
lessly is  also  the  measure  of  all  efforts  which  aiming  at  sepa- 
rate, narrower  achievements,  mark  the  difference  between  in- 
dividual and  public  achievements.  Each  and  every  separate 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  43 

and  individual  effort  must  justify  its  right  of  existence  by 
showing  that  it  advances  or  at  least  does  not  hinder  the  great 
forward  movement  of  all  mankind. 

II.  Doubtlessly  this  justification  is  necessary  when  we 
consider  our  second  tenet,  namely  that  our  culture  should 
be  religious.  The  multi-coloredness  of  the  religions,  the  di- 
versity of  views  of  different  sects  of  one  and  the  same  re- 
ligion, make  it  imperative  to  examine  closely  this  claim  of 
religiousness  to  be  universally  recognized  as  a  factor  in  gen- 
eral human  progress  and  civilization.  It  is  well,  therefore, 
that  we  have  at  our  disposition  a  definition  coming  down  to 
us  from  that  period  of  time,  when  Loew  's  voice  was  not  heard 
by  his  co-religionists  unheeded;  the  definition  coming  to  us 
out  of  the  circle  of  those  noble  men,  who  at  that  time  were 
striving  mightily  to  aid  Magyar  national  life  and  national 
independence  by  elevating  public  spirit  and  civilization  and 
by  extending  human  rights.  The  members  of  the  Diet  named 
a  county  committee  under  the  chairmanship  of  Stephen 
Bezeredy,  the  enthusiastic  champion  of  the  emancipation  of 
the  Jews  and  of  the  abolishment  of  feudal  serfdom,  to  prepare 
a  statute  to  be  enacted  covering  the  needs  of  popular  educa- 
tion. This  proposed  law, — the  very  first  of  its  kind  written 
in  Magyar  language* — contains  in  its  first  section  the  fol- 
lowing definition  of  the  aim  of  popular  education :  ' '  Popular 
education  must,  above  all,  be  religious,"  adding  thereto  the 
following  detailed  definition,  "that  is  to  say  must  be  such  that 
divine  faith  and  pure  morality  be  therein  interwoven."  It 
is  of  no  little  interest  that  this  proposed  statute  refers  also 
with  due  appreciation  to  the  other  two  tenets,  saying:  "At 
the  same  time  being  founded  on  the  principles  of  humanity 
and  nationality,  it  must  be  so  directed  that  the  scholar  be 
fittingly  educated  as  a  man,  a  citizen  and  as  the  subject  of 
his  fatherland." 

*  The  laws  of  Hungary  were  written  in  Latin.  The  Magyar  lan- 
guage became  the  official  language  of  the  land  only  in  1848. — The 
Translator. 


44  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

Against  this  close  connection  of  faith  and  morality  in 
the  definition  of  religiousness,  we  Israelites  have  the  least 
cause  to  complain.  That  universal  civilization,  which  we  now 
are  wont  to  call  European,  including  in  it  the  people  of 
America,  learned  this  conception  exclusively  out  of  those 
teachings  which  are  found  within  the  sacred  writings  of 
the  people  of  Israel.  In  the  history  of  civilization  of  all  other 
people,  either  their  belief  in  their  religion  stood  in  the  way 
of  their  moral  purity  or  their  purified  morality  came  into  op- 
position Math  their  religious  belief. 

The  serious  study  of  our  sacred  writings  will  greatly  en- 
lighten us,  on  one  side  as  to  the  mutual  relationship  of  these 
two  characteristics  of  religiousness  and  on  the  other  side 
will  give  us  instructive  information  as  to  the  intrinsic  value 
and  importance  of  pure  morality.  The  story  of  our  people, 
the  documents  of  which  are  our  sacred  writings  and  the  study 
of  which  as  is  well  known,  is  part  of  our  religious  instruction, 
is  a  veritable  elementary  proof  of  the  truth,  that  it  is  by  no 
means  the  force  of  religious  zeal  wThich  is  the  guaranty  of 
pure  morality,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  with  the  im- 
provement of  morality  that  the  sublime  sincerity  of  divine 
faith  goes  arm  in  arm. 

It  is  the  substance  of  each  of  its  lessons  to  recognize  moral 
perfection  and  holiness  are  not  per  se  our  duty  because  God 
commands  it,  but  it  is  a  divine  command  because  He  Himself 
is  perfect  and  holy.  In  the  union  of  the  love  of  God  and  the 
love  of  mankind,  it  is  not  the  love  of  God  which  leads  safely 
to  the  practice  of  love  of  humanity,  but  universal  love  of 
humanity  is  the  sole  road  on  which  we  can  reach  to  the  true 
love  of  God. 

Concerning  the  purely  human  side  of  the  moral  tenor  of 
religiousness,  let  me  be  allowed  to  cite  that  proclamation  of 
the  Prophet,  which  Leopold  Loew  too,  while  examining  the 
idea  of  religious  consciousness  mentions  in  the  very  first 
Sjoiagogal  sermon  by  him  published:  over  and  above  every- 
thing it  is  the  underlying  meaning  of  pure,  enlightened 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  45 

civilization,  one  which  he  loved  to  explain  and  dwell  upon, 
not  only  in  his  pulpit  but  also  in  the  schoolroom,  because 
its  admonition  does  not  speak  to  Israel's  people  alone,  but 
in  its  strict,  true  sense  is  an  exhortation  addressed  to  man 
without  any  regard  to  his  race  or  nationality.  This  prophetic 
admonition  is  the  most  exact  definition  of  religiousness  that 
can  be  given. 

Israel's  people  ask:  "Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  the 
Lord  and  bow  myself  before  the  high  God  ?  Shall  I  come  be- 
fore Him  with  burnt  offerings,  with  calves  a  year  old !  Will 
the  Lord  be  pleased  with  thousands  of  rams  or  with  ten 
thousands  of  rivers  of  oil  ?  Shall  I  give  my  first-born  for  my 
transgression,  the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my  soul?" 
It  is  evident  that  this  line  of  questioning  is  an  unusually 
forceful  declaration  of  the  religious  feeling  of  ancient  times. 
To-day,  very  likely,  the  religious  zealot  would  ask  about  the 
efficacious  use  of  prayer,  penitence  and  charity. 

And  this  is  the  answer  of  the  Prophet:  "He  hath  showed 
thee,  O  man,  what  is  good  and  what  doth  the  Lord  require 
of  thee  but  to  do  justly  and  love  kindness  and  to  walk  humbly 
with  thy  God." 

According  to  this  imperishable  lesson,  therefore,  justice  is 
the  foundation  of  philanthropy  and  on  them  together  rests 
the  humility  of  divine  faith. 

However,  he,  whom  we  now  honor,  Leopold  Loew,  did  by 
no  means  consider  that  he  had  done  justice  to  his  personal 
calling  by  preaching  such  universal,  human  religiousness. 
Speaking  to  us,  to  his  co-religionists,  he  expressly  demanded 
of  us  Jewish  faith.  What  meaning  has  this  demand,  what  is 
its  influence,  especially  amidst  a  social  life  which  while  not 
estranged  from  the  tenets  of  our  religion,  nevertheless  has 
placed  itself  in  its  religious  life  upon  another  basis?  To 
speak  more  distinctly,  what  can  be  the  further  mission  of 
Jewish  faith  amidst  Christian  Civilization? 

To  find  ourselves  set  right  in  these  matters  of  doubt,  it  is 
by  no  means  necessary  for  us  to  wander  aimlessly  about  on 


46  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

the  adventurous  pathways  of  deep  theological  discussions. 
The  example  and  the  memory  of  Leopold  Loew,  the  recog- 
nition of  the  lines  of  his  studies  on  the  basis  of  his  own 
language,  puts  everyone,  be  he  a  co-religionist  or  not,  upon 
the  right  road.  There  is  need  for  nothing  else  but  the  faculty 
which  he  said  was  the  substantial  basis  of  a  theological  char- 
acter, and  which  together  with  me,  at  the  height  of  our 
present  civilization,  every  cultured  man  must  consider  his 
most  substantial  characteristic, — there  is  no  need  for  aught 
else  than  "an  historic  sense"  not  deadened  by  prejudice. 

As  a  starting  point  to  my  explanation,  there  offers  itself 
to  me  a  declaration  of  his  which  cannot  be  misunderstood 
dating  from  that  same  period.  At  that  time,  one  of  our 
savants,  who  thought  he  had  accomplished  an  extraordinarily 
meritorious  labor  in  behalf  of  his  co-religionists  by  his  trans- 
lation of  our  Thora  into  the  Magyar  language,  and  who  found 
appreciation  and  support  probably  even  beyond  his  merits, 
inasmuch  as  he  became  the  first  Jewish  member  of  the  Acad- 
emy, upon  his  conversion  to  another  faith,  did  not  hesitate  to 
appeal  to  his  former  co-religionists  to  follow  his  example. 
When  this  unusual  proceeding  of  his  had  created  wrathful 
indignation,  he  found  in  one  of  the  more  prominent  ministers 
of  his  new  faith  an  ally,  who  thought  it  proper  to  let  us  know 
his  opinion:  "That  the  Jew's  higher  degree  of  civilization 
necessarily  leading  him — the  Jew — to  the  abandonment  of 
his  faith." 

"We  most  positively  protest" — was  Loew's  reply — 
"against  this  presumption.  No!  no  kind  of  civilization  can 
lead  us  away  from  our  ancient  faith.  The  more  educated  we 
are,  the  more  holy  are  to  us  the  elementary  teachings  of  truth 
and  honor,  the  dearer  is  to  us  our  ancient  faith.  Some  his- 
toric transformation  of  Judaism  we  surrender  to  history,  but 
the  truths  taught  by  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  and  which  in- 
spired our  Psalmists  to  such  sublime  songs, — these  truths  we 
want  to  keep  and  guard  as  the  highest  points  of  all  religious 
knowledge.  We  want  to  stand  as  sentinels  of  our  holy  re- 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  47 

ligion  with  that  steadfastness  and  firmness  which  we  have 
shown  for  thousands  of  years."  ( — An  open  letter  to  Rev. 
Dr.  Jos.  Szekacs,  Minister  of  the  Evangelical  Congregation  at 
Pest,  1842.  See  Loew's  complete  works  IV,  p.  351.) 

What  gives  the  key  to  this  unexampled  solidity  of  our 
loyalty?  What  explains  this  extraordinary  superiority  of 
our  sacred  teachings? 

The  proofs  of  history.  The  Holy  Writ,  which,  imitating 
strange  customs,  we  also  call  the  Bible,  is  by  no  means  one 
harmonious  creation,  is  not  the  composition  of  a  specially 
blessed  generation  or  epoch,  but  as  is  well  known  is  the  col- 
lection of  many  books,  the  collection  of  many  literary  pro- 
ductions totally  different  from  each  other  in  substance  and 
in  form  and  showing  a  remarkable  difference  also  as  to  the 
period  of  their  composition.  If  we  call  it  by  a  name  also 
taken  from  a  foreign  world  of  thought,  the  "book  of  divine 
revelation,"  which  the  contents  thereof  do  not  prove  it  really 
to  be,  that  appellation  must  be  considered  to  be  given  to  its 
holy  aim  and  by  no  means  to  be  a  claim  of  the  divinity  of  its 
source.  Its  formation,  its  creation,  is  an  unparalleled  oc- 
currence in  the  history  of  the  world ;  one  that  can  probably 
never  again  be  repeated. 

A  nation,  the  people  of  Israel,  passed  through  the  degrees 
of  moral  growth,  having  gained  a  home,  rising  from  its  tribal 
condition,  influenced  by  the  civilization  of  the  different 
peoples  surrounding  it,  organizes  a  united  nation  and  achieves 
no  mean  economical  and  intellectual  victories, — enters  finally 
into  the  whirl  and  struggle  of  the  powers  for  the  rule  over 
the  world,  and  then  loses  all  guarantees  of  her  existence  and 
of  her  national  life,  awakes  to  the  consciousness  that  the  flow 
of  events  and  all  that  happened  to  her  was  but  the  means 
to  the  complete  development  of  her  religiousness,  that  is  to 
say,  her  moral  purity  and  her  divine  faith. 

The  leaders  of  her  best  thought  looked  back  from  the  height 
of  this  consciousness  over  the  soul  life  of  the  race,  over  its 
literary  productions  and  out  of  everything  that  still  remained 


48  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

at  their  disposition  they  made  choice  and  brought  into  order 
and  put  together  all  that  which  they  thought  to  be  appro- 
priate for  the  conservation  and  the  nursing  of  their  sacred 
convictions. 

And  thus,  in  a  threefold  grouping,  the  documents  apper- 
taining to  the  instruction  of  the  people,  containing  the 
prophetic  annunciations  and  finally  expressing  the  hopes  of 
the  rebuilding  of  the  nation  are  gathered  and  the  Bible 
is  thus  created;  in  fact,  it  is  an  autobiography  of  the  people 
of  God,  to  which  is  added  a  rich  supply  of  documents,  which 
show  a  picture  of  all  the  changes  of  religious  thought  and 
feeling,  and  gives  an  account  of  all  complications  or  moral 
struggles  and  of  all  victories  of  the  faithful  soul. 

The  history  of  Israel  is  placed  into  the  framework  of  the 
oldest  traditions  of  humanity  as  it  had  been  known  by  that 
epoch  and  each  and  every  page  thereof  expresses  inspiringly 
the  conviction  that  surrendering  the  guarantees  of  its  na- 
tional life  was  an  act  in  the  interest  of  the  sacredness  of  re- 
ligion and  for  the  happiness  of  all  mankind. 

That  great  Prophet,  who  at  the  zenith  of  moral  and  re- 
ligious growth,  looked  deepest  into  the  innermost  recesses  of 
the  soul  of  his  people,  says  of  Israel,  the  servants  of  the  Lord, 
its  destiny  (Isaiah,  42,  I)  :  Behold,  my  servant,  whom  I 
uphold ;  mine  elect,  in  whom  my  soul  delighteth :  I  have 
put  my  Spirit  upon  him;  he  shall  bring  forth  judgment  to 
the  Gentiles. 

Isaiah  49 :6 :  And  he  said,  It  is  a  light  thing  that  thou 
shouldest  be  my  servant  to  raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob  and 
to  restore  the  preserved  of  Israel;  I  will  also  give  thee  for 
a  light  to  the  Gentiles  .  .  . 

In  the  consciousness  of  this  sublime  mission  ended,  al- 
though not  without  some  retrospection  and  after  bitter  strug- 
gles and  fatal  sufferings,  all  national  aspiration  of  Judaism; 
its  language  wherein  our  sacred  books  were  written  died  out 
too,  and  we,  the  descendants,  became  a  remnant  strewn 
among  the  peoples  of  the  earth,  consecrated,  pledged  to  the 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  49 

tenets  of  our  true  faith  and  to  the  teachings  of  our  sacred 
writs. 

What  sublime  evidence  in  favor  of  the  justification  of  the 
unusual  condition  of  the  religion  of  the  Jew  is  this  exceptional 
portion  of  the  holy  writ  among  the  other  creations  of  the 
human  mind.  Art  and  science  follow  the  traces  of  Hellenic 
genius  and  develop  themselves  on  its  forms;  the  government 
of  the  State  proceeds  to  regulate  itself  on  the  basis  of  the 
laws  of  the  Romans;  but  these  nations  themselves,  denying 
these  true,  peculiar  creations  of  their  national  genius,  were 
destroyed  and  the  history  of  mankind  had  to  begin  de  novo 
for  the  possession  of  their  heirlooms. 

The  people  of  religion, — the  only  one  among  the  nations  of 
antiquity, — did  not  swerve  from  the  traditions  of  their  ances- 
tors; amidst  all  upheavals  of  the  world's  history  it  stood  as 
the  defending  guard  and  for  the  benefit  of  all  mankind  it 
holds  high  the  torch  which  was  lit  at  the  fire  burning  in  the 
souls  of  their  fathers  that  it  may  light  up  the  paths  of  reli- 
gious accomplishments;  pure  morality  and  divine  faith  walk- 
ing thereon  in  harmonious  unity. 

The  almost  two  thousand  five  hundred  years  which  sepa- 
rates us  from  the  time  when  the  substantial  books  of  our 
Bible  originate  and  the  ample  evidence  they  contain,  direct 
everybody,  whether  he  be  our  co-religionist  or  whether  he 
stand  outside  the  pale  of  our  religion  to  what  must  be  the 
position  taken  by  us  in  the  interest  of  human  civilization  and 
the  progress  of  morality  when  our  sacred  writings  are  in  is- 
sue. 

The  intellectual  life  of  Judaism  has  the  peculiarity,  that 
ever  since  the  holy  writings  were  printed,  this  life  evidenced 
itself  exclusively  in  the  interpretation  and  annotations  of 
these  sacred  writings.  Leopold  Loew's  sole  systematic  theo- 
logical work  ("Hamaf  teach  "-—The  Key, — Practical  Intro- 
duction into  the  Sacred  writings  and  History  of  their  ex- 
pounding;— Nagy  Kanizsa,  1885)  enlightens  us  on  what  forms 
this  activity  of  our  creed  had  attained  in  the  post-biblical 


50  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

epoch  under  the  influence  of  the  different  civilizatory  circles 
which  surrounded  it. 

Only  those  men  did  and  could  exert  deeper  influence  on 
the  religious  thought  and  the  growth  of  religious  feeling — 
especially  so  outside  the  closed  circle  of  our  own  faith — 
who,  wrapped  up  in  the  civilization  of  their  epoch  took  its 
entire  intellectual  wealth  into  the  service  of  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  holy  writings  and  ever  and  ever  showed  in  new 
lights  the  truth  of  their  teachings.  It  suffices  to  mention  as 
an  example,  dating  into  the  epoch  of  antiquity,  the  name  of 
Judffius  Philo,  the  Greek  Scholar,  who,  though  he  was  not 
able  to  read  our  sacred  writings  in  the  original,  did  never- 
theless, even  in  their  Greek  translations,  recognize  the  sub- 
limity of  our  moral  principles  and  of  our  religion.  At  the 
zenith  of  the  mediaaval  ages,  it  was  Maimonides,  with  his 
Arabian  culture,  and  at  the  dawn  of  the  modern  epoch  it 
was  Tpinoza  in  Holland,  at  that  time  the  sole  asylum  of  free 
thought,  who  contributed  according  to  the  needs  of  their  re- 
spective times  and  the  scientific  methods  of  their  days  to  the 
expounding  of  our  sacred  writings  and  became  throughout 
all  of  the  range  of  civilization,  the  champions  of  humanity's 
enlightened  religious  thought  and  conscientiousness. 

On  the  other  hand  whenever  and  wherever  our  people  stood 
aloof  from  the  sources  of  progressive  civilization  be  it  by  rea- 
son of  the  narrowness  of  its  own  perception,  or  be  it  because 
of  the  intolerance  of  the  society  surrounding  it,  the  pure  light 
of  the  teachings  of  the  holy  writings  not  only  grew  fainter, 
but  in  consequence  thereof  it  opened  its  own  doors  to  the 
reception  of  all  kinds  of  foreign  superstition  and  bigotry. 
It  was  for  this  reason  that  in  the  cultured  and  conscientious 
elucidation  of  our  sacred  writings  by  and  with  the  aid  of  all 
the  means  known  to  the  scientific  discernment  of  our  times 
and  in  the  corresponding  unprejudiced  development  of  our 
moral  course  of  life  he,  whose  memory  we  celebrate  to-day, 
saw  the  special  task  of  Magyar  Judaism ;  which  task,  however, 
Magyar  Judaism  does  not  fulfill  for  its  own  exclusive  wel- 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  51 

fare,  but  in  accordance  with  the  distinct  commands  of  our 
sacred  writings  does  it  for  the  benefit  and  happiness  of  that 
country,  in  which  divine  Providence  had  given  it  a  home. 
Thus  then  it  could  happen  that  the  very  foremost  representa- 
tive of  our  religion  stood  aside  and  took  no  part  in  the  at- 
tempt when  other  uninformed  spokesmen,  under  the  pressure 
of  external  conditions  and  led  astray  by  purely  political  en- 
ticements, attempted  to  make  us  exchange  our  ancient  con- 
gregational autonomy  which  did  not  and  could  not  hinder 
the  free  growth  of  the  congregations  throughout  the  land, 
with  a  kind  of  a  strange,  foreign  central  congregational  or,- 
ganization,  and  for  the  sake  of  such  a  union,  were  ready  to 
force  upon  our  creed, — even  with  the  aid  of  lawful  force — 
the  yoke  of  unfortunate  epochs  and  obsolete  times.  In  the 
cause  of  the  liberty  of  conscience  and  the  purity  of  inherited 
teachings  he  then  fought  his  famous  war  against  the  haggling 
unprincipledness  which  had  no  sympathies  with  religious  zeal 
nor  with  the  light  of  scientific  perception.  I  do  not  dwell 
any  longer  on  these  sad  events,  when  he,  whom  \ve  now  honor, 
stood  almost  all  alone,  but  my  soul  prompts  me  to  make  a 
frank  confession,  that  mainly  this  experience  ripened  within 
me  the  decision  under  no  conditions  to  enter  the  service  of 
any  religious  institution,  but  that  loyal  and  faithful  to  our 
ancient  faith  as  made  known  to  me  by  our  sacred  writings, 
I  should  devote  my  abilities  and  my  enthusiasm  to  purely  na- 
tional institutions  and  that  the  blessing  of  Providence  lias 
accompanied  this  resolution. 

Indeed,  our  true  Jewish  faith,  the  representation  of  its 
historic  mission,  loses  naught  of  its  importance  even  beyond 
the  narrower  circle  of  our  creed,  when  upon  the  general  field 
of  universal  civilization  it  faces  the  convictions  of  other 
creeds.  I  do  not  belittle  at  all  the  historic  importance  of 
those  writings  which  inform  us  of  the  formation  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  which  though  speaking  another  language,  not 
Hebrew  but  Greek,  and  though  many  centuries  and  an  in- 
tellectual development  wholly  at  variance  with  our  own  di- 


52  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

vides  us  from  them,  were  nevertheless  added  to  the  line  of 
our  own  holy  scriptures  then  already  substantially  finished, 
as  the  holy  scriptures  of  the  new  faith.  I  can  thoroughly 
appreciate,  fully  recognize  the  merits  of  the  part  Christian- 
ity had  in  the  education  of  the  peoples  and  in  the  establish- 
ment of  universal  civilization.  It  can  not  be  forgotten,  how- 
ever, that  in  comparison  to  the  literature  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, which  embraces  the  story  of  an  entire  race,  it  is  only 
of  the  religious  movement  of  a  very  short  period  of  time  of 
which  the  sacred  writings  of  the  new  faith  bear  witness ;  fur- 
thermore, it  is  plainly  evident  that  they  do  not  mirror  the 
intellectual  and  mental  struggles  of  the  higher,  more  elevated 
circles  of  the  society  of  their  period,  but  speak  mostly  of  the 
religious  hopes  and  moral  needs  of  the  simple  souls,  living 
among  petty  surroundings  and  conditions.  Moreover,  orig- 
inating without  any  exception  from  Jewish  authors,  resting 
in  all  their  details  upon  the  proofs  of  our  own  sacred  writ- 
ings, referring  to  them  step  by  step,  they  belong  in  their 
entire  formation  and  by  reason  of  their  literary  aims  to  that 
very  continuity  of  the  development  of  the  interpretation  of 
our  sacred  writings,  the  true  value  of  which  depends  upon 
their  being  correctly  understood.  The  growth  of  the  Chris- 
tian world  showed  plainly  that  purer  morality  and  nobler 
faith  divine  actually  go  arm-in-arm  with  a  deeper,  more 
thorough  understanding  of  the  Old  Testament.  And  not  a 
small  part  therein  is  the  circumstance,  that  apart  from  the 
contending  forces  of  the  Christian  creeds,  Judaism  could  by 
the  grace  of  Providence  give  living  witness  of  the  never- 
ceasing  blessing  of  its  ancient  faith,  which  remained  un- 
shaken in  spite  of  cruel  persecution  and  alluring  proselytiz- 
ing. 

Thus  our  function  and  mission  therefore  never  grew  obso- 
lete, and  in  accordance  with  the  prophetic  declaration, 
(Micha  4:1-5),  which  the  hero  of  this  celebration  cites  in 
connection  with  his  hopes  of  the  emancipation  of  the  Jews, 
it  shall  never  end  until  time  be  lost  in  Eternity: — "When 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  53 

the  flag  of  the  liberty  of  conscience  shall  everywhere  wave 
and  the  Sons  of  God  have  peopled  God's  entire  Earth,  when 
nation  shall  raise  no  sword  against  another  nation  and  war- 
fare shall  no  more  be  taught  by  them,  but  all  shall  sit  peace- 
fully, one  beneath  his  vineyard,  and  the  other  beneath  his 
fig-tree,  because  indeed  then  the  peoples  shall  walk,  each  in 
the  name  of  his  God  and  we  shall  walk  in  the  name  of  our 
Lord,  God  forever."  In  the  application  of  the  prophetic 
declaration  in  this  sense,  is  evidenced  not  only  the  uncondi- 
tional achievement  of  the  liberty  of  conscience,  but  also  the 
sublime  consciousness  of  the  religious  mission  of  our  own 
religion. 

III.  In  the  end,  every  noble  endeavor  of  the  individual 
in  his  own  life,  as  well  as  that  made  at  large,  aims  at  the  im- 
provement of  our  national  self-consciousness.  Our  educa- 
tion, our  culture  therefore  should  be  national;  this  is  the 
third,  the  last  exhortation,  and  here  within  this  land,  in  our 
own  country,  it  should  be  of  "Hungarian  National"  aim. 
Leopold  Loew  soon  enough  found  occasion  and  means  to  ex- 
pound this  conviction  of  his  and  his  whole  life  and  every  act 
therein  is  a  conscientious  expression  thereof.  Amidst  our 
national  conditions,  amidst  the  difficulties  of  our  historical 
existence,  he  is  the  instructive  example  of  the  truth  that  be- 
longing to  a  nation  is  not  a  racial  attribute  nor  a  privilege 
of  birth  or  of  the  mother  tongue,  but  is  the  outcome  of  a 
conscientious  resolution  and  of  a  sacred  will  and  is  the  merit 
of  action  in  conformity  with  these. 

In  the  same  pamphlet  wherein  he  set  forth  his  educational 
and  civilizatory  principles,  he  felt  constrained  severely  to 
repel  "a  few  unassuming  views"  of  an  anonymous  writer 
who  "raised  religious  difficulties  in  the  matter  of  the  na- 
tionalizing of  the  Jews  and  their  assimilation  with  the 
Magyar  nation"  and  whose  opinion  culminated  in  the  ques- 
tion :  whether  we  want  to  educate  our  children  in  the  Jewish 
faith, — "because,"  he  said, — "if  so,  they  cannot  become  true 
patriots."  In  his  forceful  specific  answer  our  hero  of  this 


54  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

day  pointed  out  with  striking  brevity  what  is  to  be  done  on 
the  one  side  by  the  national  legislation,  and  on  the  other  side 
by  our  co-religionists.  The  task  namely  is,  he  said,  that  our 
co-religionists  "instead  of  becoming  Hungarian  Jews,  should 
become  Jewish  Hungarians."  In  a  homily  of  his,  entitled 
"The  Lord  has  unloosened  my  chains,"  wherewith  a  quarter 
of  a  century  afterwards  he  greeted  at  the  Synagogue  in 
Szeged  the  enactment  of  the  emancipation  of  the  Jews,  he 
expressed  almost  in  the  form  of  vows  the  burdens  of  that 
task.  Two  of  these  vows  can  be  looked  upon  as  the  condi- 
tions precedent  of  such  nationalization,  while  the  third 
brings  about  the  realization  of  the  task. 

Patriotism  is  the  first  duty;  "for  our  Magyar  fatherland, 
— and  beneath  the  sky  there  is  no  other  land  for  us, — to 
be  possessed  of  an  enthusiasm  which  is  willing  to  do  deeds 
for  it,  and  to  promote  the  welfare  and  the  glory  thereof" 
.  .  .  This  behest  coming  from  his  lips  has  no  other  mean- 
ing than  to  tell  us  that  patriotism  is  not  merely  love  of  one's 
native  place,  but  is  the  appreciation  of  the  nation  and  the 
land  which  has  opened  the  field  and  given  wide  opportunities 
for  our  activities  in  the  service  of  humanity.  Often  does  he 
cite  in  his  writings  and  in  his  speeches  the  admonition  of 
the  Prophet  Jeremiah  who  sent  to  the  remnant  of  his  peo- 
ple, the  best  of  Israel's  people  imprisoned  at  Babylon,  the 
message :  ' '  Seek  the  welfare  of  the  city  where  you  are  exiled 
and  pray  for  it  to  the  Lord,  because  in  its  welfare  there  is 
also  welfare  for  you."  Still  more  cheerfully  did  he  ever 
dwell  on  the  proofs  of  more  than  a  thousand  years  of  history 
of  scattered  Judaism,  showing  how  without  any  exception 
our  creed  had  with  grateful  loyalty  repaid  the  kindness  of 
every  nation  which  had  willingly  accepted  it  as  co-laborers 
in  the  fulfillment  of  its  own  civilizatory  efforts. 

The  knowledge  of  the  national  idiom  is  the  second  duty: 
"Sincerely  and  with  determined  partiality  to  foster  the  na- 
tional language  in  which  our  emancipation  has  been  enacted 
and  to  develop  a  deep  sympathy  with  Magyar  literature." 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  55 

"What  did  this  admonition  mean,  coming  from  his  lips,  who 
in  his  childhood's  days  spoke  another  tongue,  who,  as  he 
expresses  it  in  the  preface  to  his  first  printed  Synagogical 
sermon:  "is  not  a  native  Hungarian,  but  came  to  understand 
the  Magyar  language  only  through  his  literary  studies," — 
but  who,  for  instance,  never  spoke  to  me  or  to  his  children 
and  to  whom  we  never  spoke  in  any  other  but  the  Magyar 
language.  What  he  meant  is  clear  from  that  first  sermon 
of  his:  "proceeding  from  the  elementary  principle  that 
Magyar  intelligence  and  the  knowledge  of  the  Magyar  lan- 
guage are  indivisible  subjects." 

"Yes," — my  friends — he  said:  "it  is  not  merely  material 
profit,  but  it  is  preeminently  the  so-much  desired  improve- 
ment of  the  Magyar  intelligence  which  should  inspire  us 
to  the  fostering  and  the  cultivation  of  the  Magyar  lan- 
guage." "The  frictions  of  the  ideas  and  principles,  the 
moods  and  the  humor,  the  longings  of  the  heart,  its  sighs 
and  its  hopes,  the  ambition  and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  nation 
is  rooted  deep  in  its  Magyarism,  is  mirrored  back  in  its  Mag- 
yarism.  The  most  sacred  revelations  of  Magyar  life  remain 
hidden  to  us  if  we  are  not  initiated  into  the  charms  of  the 
Magyar  tongue.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  are  in  possession 
of  the  Magyar  language  and  if  we  can  partake  in  the  glories 
of  the  Magyar  genius,  we  may  even  find  consolation  for  still 
being  considered  but  the  step-children  of  our  mother,  of 
Hungary. ' ' 

Patriotism,  Magyarization,  are,  however,  but  preparatory 
stages  to  our  chief  obligation:  "to  be  loyally  faithful  to  the 
Magyar  nation,  this  champion  of  liberty,  and  intrepidly  to 
stand  by  her  in  good  and  in  evil  days  and  to  take  part  in 
all  her  modern  activities."  I  do  not  doubt  that  within  the 
hearts  of  all  of  us  reechoes  the  call  which  shows  that  our 
valiant  priest  as  well  as  our  great  poet  holds  that  our  na- 
tion's most  glorious  memory  is  that  here  was  carried  aloft 
the  flag  of  liberty.  The  closing  phrase  of  the  ministerial 
call  at  the  same  time  makes  intelligible  to  us  what  led  the 


56  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

chief  rabbi  of  Papa  into  the  encampment  at  Sellye.  In  that 
same  homily  delivered  at  Szeged  he  remembers  that  period 
with  the  following  statement :  ' '  In  the  public  career  behind 
me,  that  hour  was  the  most  solemn  and  the  most  glorious, 
when  in  1848  in  the  open  field,  beneath  the  open  skies  I  spoke 
to  the  Magyar  National  Guard,  proclaiming  in  their  behalf 
first  that  we  do  not  want  to  aid  injustice,  but  we  want  to 
protect  the  law;  secondly,  we  do  not  favor  arbitrariness  but 
we  want  to  assist  lawful  liberty;  thirdly,  we  do  not  want  to 
help  barbarous  crudeness  but  we  want  to  advance  civiliza- 
tion; fourthly,  we  do  not  want  to  protect  rebellion  but  we 
wrant  to  strengthen  the  throne  of  our  gracious  King."  I, 
myself,  reckon  it  to  be  amongst  my  most  beautiful  memories, 
that  in  the  year  following  (1869),  he  took  me  along  to 
Czegled — they  looked  upon  me  there  as  his  seminarist-coad- 
jutor— where  he  again  spoke  beneath  the  free  heaven  to  the 
people  of  the  entire  city  without  regard  to  religious  belief, 
in  celebration  of  the  emancipation.  On  this  occasion  it 
seemed  to  me  I  heard  in  the  harmonious  unanimity  of  the 
sentiments  of  the  Jewish  rabbi  and  the  Magyar  people  of  the 
city  of  Czegled  the  throbs  of  the  big  heart  of  the  Magyar 
nation. 

Nevertheless  it  has  never  entirely  ceased  to  be  said  and 
now  and  then  the  accusation  is  still  heard,  and  sometimes  in 
the  face  of  the  most  patriotic  activity — (however,  only  from 
sources  where  the  independent  and  larger  growth  of  Magyar- 
soul  life  is  not  much  cherished) — that  the  Jews  of  this  coun- 
try, while  they  do  not  consider  themselves  a  distinctly  sepa- 
rate nationality,  are  still  the  representatives  of  a  foreign, 
especially  of  a  German  spirit.  One  decade  after  our  eman- 
cipation, Leopold  Loew,  with  a  view  of  throwing  light  upon 
the  repeated  failure  of  the  attempt  to  organize  our  ecclesias- 
tical status,  reviewed  the  common  law  status  of  Judaism  dur- 
ing the  century  passed,  and  at  this  time  he  deemed  it  neces- 
sary to  repel  this  ridiculous  accusation  with  all  the  force  of 
his  authority  and  to  show  its  utter  groundlessness. 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  57 

He  did  it  and  he  could  do  it  by  reason  of  his  personal  bit- 
ter experiences  during  the  most  mournful  decade  of  our  na- 
tional life.  "In  Hungary" — he  said — "it  was  Michael 
Haas,  School  Inspector,  and  later  on  Bishop  of  Szatmas,  the 
most  sycophantic  and  most  active  satellite  of  the  Bach-abso- 
lutism, who  had  intended  to  force  upon  the  Jews  of  Hungary 
the  work  of  representing  German  civilization.  The  Govern- 
ment intended  to  use  the  Jews  especially  for  the  Germanizing 
of  the  land ; — out  of  gratitude  the  Government  then  curtailed 
the  right  of  the  Jews  to  hold  real  property  and  it  introduced 
the  political  consent  to  marriage.  At  this  time  there  grew  on 
this  field  of  Germanized  civilization  a  poisonous  plant  until 
then  unknown  to  Magyar — Judaism,  namely  the  spy  system, 
the  denunciation.  German  civilization  must  turn  with  con- 
tempt from  the  mischief  which  at  this  period  was  practiced  in 
its  name.  Hungarian  Jews  with  genuine  German  culture  and 
Hungarian  Christians  of  like  German  culture  as  well,  asso- 
ciate themselves  freely,  readily,  frankly  without  any  sinis- 
ter thoughts  with  the  Magyar  element.  This  element  is  rep- 
resented by  an  entire  nation,  while  other  races  are  but  frag- 
ments of  races  wrhich  have  their  points  of  gravity  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  our  land.  With  the  Magyar  element  the  po- 
litical self-consciousness  is  absolutely  unanimous  with  the  na- 
tional self-consciousness.  With  this  element  and  with  every- 
body who  identifies  himself  with  the  Magyar  national  spirit 
is  seen  most  powerfully  a  real  love  of  the  fatherland  and  of 
liberty." 

Nothing  proves  the  deep  truth  of  this  analytic  appreciation 
of  our  public  affairs  than  the  pages  of  our  history.  Hun- 
garianism  stood  from  its  earliest  days  throughout  all  of  the 
European  crises  and  struggles  at  the  side  of  intellectual 
progress  and  liberalism,  while  the  other  races,  our  other  na- 
tionalities would  often  readily  enter  the  service  of  reaction- 
ary forces  and  of  arbitrariness  which  blocked  the  free  growth 
of  moral  development  and  of  national  aims. 

Let  me  be  permitted,  however,  to  this  characteristic  main 


58  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

feature  of  the  Magyar  soul  to  add  still  another  one;  added 
thereto  out  of  my  recollections,  verified  by  history  and  often 
mentioned  to  me  by  the  man  whose  memory  we  now  cele- 
brate, as  one  he  had  also  personally  observed.  .  .  .  He 
called  it  loyalty,  the  respect  in  which  the  law  and  the  author- 
ities are  held,  and  in  his  opinion  the  Hungarian  people  would 
have  hardly  shown  such  sacrificing  resoluteness  during  its 
struggles  for  liberty,  if  it  had  not  been  the  lawful  govern- 
ment which  called  it  to  arms  for  the  defense  of  the  country. 
I  do  not  dispute  this  fact,  but  without  any  doubt  whatever 
it  is  surely  true  that  at  all  times  greatest  responsibility  rested 
and  rests  now  on  all  who  according  to  law  are  the  leaders 
of  the  nation  or  who  assume  the  role  of  such  leaders,  not  to 
misuse  this  honest  loyalty  of  our  people.  I  boldly  say,  that 
I  would  regard  it  as  a  serious  danger  if,  especially  at  such 
stormy  currents  as  at  present  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  mind 
of  all  Europe  with  heated  discussions  on  subjects  of  reli- 
gion and  problems  relating  to  our  social  lives  and  on  matters 
relating  to  elementary  education,  our  leaders  desiring  to 
bring  about  a  radical  change  in  our  public  affairs  should  take 
the  motto  of  religious  tolerance  and  of  the  harmonious  coop- 
eration of  the  nationalities  and  of  the  social  classes  as  a  pre- 
tense and  would  attempt  to  use  it,  if  not  for  the  utter  pre- 
vention, at  least  as  an  excuse  for  a  delay  in  bringing  about 
modern,  lawful  and  necessary  reforms.  Indeed,  those  who 
now-a-days  stand  in  the  way  of  free  thought  and  of  the  log- 
ical progress  continually  growing  therefrom  might  blindly 
lead  the  nation  to  a  fatal  crisis.  To  every  thinking  mind  and 
deeply  feeling  soul  they  would  make  it  more  difficult  to  re- 
main a  Magyar  to-day,  than  it  had  been  to  him,  whose  mem- 
ory we  now  celebrate,  to  become  a  Hungarian  during  our 
great  reform  epoch.  The  grace  of  Providence  protect  our 
Nation  from  such  a  happening! 

Honored  President  and  Esteemed  Public :  According  to  my 
best  ability  I  attempted  to  respond  to  the  call  you  honored 
me  with.  As  a  little  reminder,  I  beg  leave  to  bring  Leopold 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  59 

Loew's  message,  his  blessed  legacy,  into  connection  with  the 
well  known  motto,  which  even  he  did  not  hesitate  to  use  in 
greeting  the  emancipation  of  our  people;  but  I  do  not  use 
them  in  the  order  of  the  call  of  the  French  Revolution,  I  use 
them  as  it  is  recited  by  our  great  poet,  who  in  his  bold  soar- 
ing, looked  at  the  lesson  of  the  history  of  all  mankind  and 
the  fate  of  all  moral  efforts.  On  the  universality  of  the  pure 
human  destiny  rests  the  claim  of  equality,  on  religiosity,  on 
the  unison  of  divine  faith  and  pure  morals  are  based  the  du- 
ties of  fraternity  and  finally  on  the  most  glorious  traditions 
of  our  national  existence  is  based  the  love  of  liberty,  the  in- 
destructible yearning  of  individual  liberty  of  thought  as  well 
as  of  the  national  independence  of  the  people. 

May  in  this  sense  the  memory  of  Leopold  Loew  be  blessed 
in  the  hearts  of  our  faith  and  our  nation. 


LEOPOLD  LOEW 

AFTER-DINNER  SPEECH,  DELIVERED  AT  THE  MUNICIPAL  BAN- 
QUET, SZEGED,  JUNE  4TH,  1911,  ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  LEO- 
POLD LOEW  CENTENARY,  BY  THE  RIGHT  HON.  ZOLTAN  BEOTHT, 
MEMBER  OF  THE  UPPER  HOUSE  OF  PARLIAMENT,,  VICE-PRES. 
HUNGARIAN  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCE,  PRES.  KISFALUDY  SOCIETY; 
PROFESSOR  AT  THE  BUDAPEST  UNIVERSITY.  .  .  . 

Honored  Sir: 

My  heartfelt  thanks  are  due  to  you,  Dr.  Izso  Rosa,  our 
esteemed  toastmaster,  for  your  kind  introduction.  In  re- 
sponse to  your  words  of  appreciation,  I  must  say  one  thing, 
and  that  is  this:  My  coming  here  to-day  deserves  no  special 
mention  and  less  so  doe's  it  deserve  to  be  regarded  as  having 
any  significance.  All  of  you,  I  believe,  will  recognize  the 
truth  of  this  when  I  shall  have  briefly  set  forth  the  two  rea- 
sons which  prompted  me  to  come  here  to-day.  The  first  rea- 
son is, — I  cannot  call  it  otherwise, — the  behest  of  my  con- 
science, my  heart, — the  command  of  my  Magyar  conscience. 

"We  demand  of  our  Jewish  compatriots  not  only  that  they 
zealously  and  actively  partake  in  the  practical  activity  of  our 
national  life,  but  rightfully  we  also  demand  that  they  take 
part,  that  they  be  a  very  part  of  the  soul  of  this  national 
activity.  To  put  it  into  another  form — that  they  share  with 
us  the  historic  soul  of  the  Magyar  nation ;  that  the  growth  of 
this  soul,  its  political  and  its  intellectual  growth,  they  shall 
regard  as  the  growth  of  their  own  history;  that  the  great 
souls  of  the  nation,  the  great  souls  of  the  past  and  of  the 
present — they  shall  consider  to  be  their  own.  They  shall  feel 
this  to  be  the  case,  as  it  was  felt  by  Leopold  Loew.  I  read  a 
sermon  of  his  about  the  Resurrection,  the  resurrection  of  the 

60 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  61 

Magyar  nation;  and  I  found  therein  how  he  connects  Jewish 
history  with  Magyar  history,  finds  historic  parallels  between 
St.  Stephen  and  Moses,  Szechenyi  and  Samuel,  the  Macca- 
bees and  the  Rakoczys, — and  so  forth,  and  out  of  these  con- 
nections, out  of  these  comparisons  he  deducts  important  les- 
sons for  our  national  life. 

However,  gentlemen,  while  we  demand  this  of  our  Jewish 
compatriots,  we  also  must  feel  the  duty  flowing  from  this 
desire  of  ours,  the  duty  that  we  too  look  upon  their  great 
souls,  upon  their  great  men  who  understood  their  task  in 
life,  who  fulfilled  the  mission  of  their  lives  as  if  they  were  our 
own,  parts  of  ourselves.  Thoughtfully  considering  this  and 
prompted  by  national,  Magyar,  sense  of  duty  I  came  here  to 
honor  the  memory  of  one  of  the  greatest  leaders  of  a  national 
unity. 

This  was  one  of  the  reasons.  The  other  is  of  a  personal 
nature.  It  is  about  fifty  years  since  my  father  gave  me, 
then  in  my  blooming  youth,  a  couple  of  pamphlets  to  read. 
One  of  the  pamphlets  was  a  sermon  delivered  on  the  eve  of 
the  opening  of  the  National  Diet  in  1861,  the  other  was  a 
memorial  sermon  delivered  in  memory  of  Szechenyi.  Both 
were  sermons  of  Leopold  Loew.  He  put  them  in  my  hands 
that  out  of  them  I  might  learn  patriotism  and  religiosity. 
A  Calvinistic  father  of  a  Calvinistic  home  did  this  and  I 
can  truthfully  say  that  what  I  then  read  made  such  a  force- 
ful impression  on  me  that  not  even  to-day,  have  I  forgotten  it. 

Probably  I  did  not  thoroughly  grasp  what  I  then  read,  but 
those  were  strenuous  times.  The  run  of  strenuous  years 
ripens  men  more  quickly,  makes  them  understand  those 
thoughts,  those  ideas  more  thoroughly.  As  I  said  before, 
what  I  then  read  remains  until  to-day,  unforgettable  in  my 
mind.  The  bringing  together  of  names  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment with  Magyar  historical  names  made  a  most  powerful 
impression  on  me.  Entirely  unconsciously  it  brought  me  un- 
der the  influence  of  an  older  Magyar  life,  the  spirit  of  a  Mag- 
yar life  of  many  centuries  ago.  I  have  in  mind  that  cen- 


62  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

tury,  the  spirit  of  that  epoch  which  was  the  epoch  of  the 
awakening  of  the  conscience  of  the  spirit  of  the  Magyar  soul, 
the  Protestant  epoch.  This  awakening  of  the  conscience  of 
Magyar  life,  the  marshaling  before  my  eyes  of  these  figures 
of  the  Bible  and  of  our  history,  that  it  is  which  I  cannot 
forget;  and  that  had  its  influence  over  my  soul  when  I  read 
Leopold  Loew's  citations  from  the  Old  Testament.  His  ex- 
pounding of  the  Biblical  passages  powerfully  moved  me  to 
my  very  soul. 

Prom  the  distance  of  a  half  a  century  his  speech  resounds 
to  me.  Since  then  a  great  deal  has  happened,  and  a  great 
deal  has  happened  just  as  he  had  hoped  it  would  happen. 

It  happened  that  his  hopes  met  the  aspirations  of  the  na- 
tion ;  of  the  Magyar  national  desire  to  be  united,  to  be  loyal, 
to  advance  in  the  path  of  progress.  This  spirit  created,  and 
this  spirit  secured  for  us  all  that  we  possess  to-day.  The 
position  achieved  by  us,  the  political  rights  secured,  our  pub- 
lic institutions  safely  established,  for  these  we  must  thank 
this  spirit  of  which  Leopold  Loew  was  not  only  a  factor,  but 
its  interpreter  and  representative. 

If  we  want  briefly  to  characterize  this  spirit,  this  active 
spirit  to  which  is  due  all  that  we  possess  to-day,  if  we  want 
briefly  to  characterize  the  very  substance  of  this  spirit  we 
probably  could  say,  that  this  spirit  is  the  very  idea  of  na.- 
tional  and  human  interests,  the  very  thought  of  progress  and 
the  continuous  and  solidly  fixed  connection  of  their  oneness, 
the  spirit  of  their  interpretation,  the  spirit  of  their  indivisible 
union.  This  union  created  everything,  all  that  is  valuable, 
all  that  is  precious,  all  on  which  we  must  take  our  stand, 
and  wherein  we  can  find  the  ancient  guarantees  of  our  prin- 
ciples. 

If  in  our  days  there  seem  to  appear  signs  showing  a  loos- 
ening of  this  spirit,  I  say  if  there  appear  signs  tending  to 
show  a  loosening  of  this  union  of  our  Magyar  national  thought 
and  progress,  these  are  all  the  more  important  because  it  is  a 
natural  law  that  all  creations  can  only  be  maintained  by 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  63 

those  forces  which  created  it.  Everything  that  is  precious 
to  us,  whereon  the  guarantees  of  our  future  rest  was  created 
by  this  spirit.  These  were  the  thoughts  of  Leopold  Loew, 
these  very  thoughts  are  the  lessons  of  his  career;  a  career 
and  an  activity  guided  by  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  our 
national  work. 

Gentlemen,  we  celebrate  to-day  the  feast  of  Whitsuntide, 
the  feast  of  consecration  and  illumination. 

When  we  see  ourselves  consecrating  ourselves  loyally  to 
our  Magyar  lives,  when  we  seek  illumination  as  to  what  is 
our  duty  in  the  future;  it  is  almost  with  reverential  piety 
that  we  must  think  of  a  passage  in  one  of  the  sermons  of 
Leopold  Loew  which  I  have  already  mentioned  and  the 
passage, — I  am  citing  it  from  memory, — runs  like  this:  The 
nationalities  and  the  religious  sects  of  this  land  will  be 
united;  united  in  fraternal  love,  because  deep  in  our  hearts 
we  feel  that  the  Almighty  to  whom  we  pray  is  One,  One  is 
the  land  which  nourishes  us  and  wherein  we  shall  rest;  One 
is  the  eternal  home  beyond  the  grave.  As  I  said  before,  on 
this  festival  of  consecration  and  illumination  these  thoughts 
of  Leopold  Loew  come  to  our  minds  and  this  being  the  case 
can  we  raise  our  glasses  to  aught  more  worthy  than  to  the 
sublime  memory  of  Leopold  Loew  and  to  the  memory  of  all 
those  to  whom  his  memory  is  still  a  keen  inspiration. 


LEOPOLD  LOEW 

MEMORIAL    SERMON    DELIVERED    AT    THE    SYNAGOGUE    OP    SZEGED, 

ON    JUNE    4,    1911,    BY    DR.    LOUIS    VENETIANER, 

CHIEF-RABBI   OP   UJPEST 

"And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  latter  days,  that  the  mountain  of 
the  Lord's  home  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains  and 
shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it." 

LEGENDARY  exposition  of  the  Holy  "Writ  paints  of  this 
prophecy  of  Isaiah  a  colored  dream  picture,  which  connects 
this  thought — an  ideal  epoch  of  a  brotherhood  of  man  which 
redeemeth  humanity — with  the  thought,  that  then  the  Lord 
will  bring  together  the  four  prominent  mountains  of  the 
Holy  Land,  the  Carmel,  the  Tabor,  the  Sinai  and  the  Hermon 
and  on  their  united  top  He  will  rebuild  the  altar  to  which 
the  inhabitants  of  all  of  the  earth  shall  come  for  the  blessings 
of  the  peace  of  love. 

The  sacred  altar,  rebuilt  on  the  united  mountain-tops,  ap- 
pears before  my  mental  vision  now,  as  I  stand  here,  deeply 
moved,  representing  the  National  Association  of  Rabbis  and 
in  their  behalf  help  to  celebrate  the  memory  of  Leopold  Loew. 

In  behalf  of  the  Rabbis  of  Magyar  Israel  I  conjure  up  the 
commanding  figure  of  that  God-sent  man  whose  name  has 
grown  into  one  with  the  modern  history  of  our  country's 
Judaism;  who  prescribed  the  course  and  who  dug  the  bed 
of  a  mighty,  progressive  current  in  the  advancement  of  which 
his  activity  set  the  precedent  for  the  efforts  of  the  Magyar 
Rabbinical  corps,  which  with  the  utmost  possible  zeal  at- 
tempts to  put  each  believer  of  our  creed  into  the  saintly 
work  of  building  the  temple  of  our  common  national  welfare. 

While  the  historical  philosophy  of  our  epoch  sees  in  the 
activity  of  man  of  historic  importance  only  the  exponents  of 

64 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  65 

the  will  of  the  masses,  we  are  bound  to  appreciate  in  Leopold 
Loew  the  phenomenal  power  of  providence. 

A  kind  Providence  transplanted  him  from  a  foreign  land 
into  our  country's  soil  in  order  that  taking  root  here,  he 
might  bear  luscious  fruit  for  the  welfare  of  Magyar  Israel. 

Hungarian  Judaism  had  already  seventy  years  ago  a  will 
of  the  masses  which,  however,  only  the  sporadically  animated 
first  rays  of  spiritual  enlightenment  could  make  leap  into 
flame. 

There  were  even  spiritual  leaders  whose  horizon  already 
spread  to  the  morning  dawn  of  the  rising  epoch,  in  whom, 
however,  there  were  missing  those  marvelous  powers  which 
with  the  force,  alike  to  the  laws  of  nature,  causes  even  the 
indestructible  granite  statue  of  Memnon  to  greet  the  rising 
sun  and  call  to  blissful  work  the  awakening  man. 

Providence  brought  Leopold  Loew  from  a  foreign  land  to 
us,  that  his  sweet  voice  should  inspire  the  sleepers  to  activity, 
that  his  learning  should  enlighten  the  intellects,  that  on  the 
immutability  of  his  will  power  might  break  enmity's  de- 
structive billows,  that  his  enchanting  individuality  should 
secure  respect  for  Judaism.  If  to-day  I  should  behold  in 
Magyar  Judaism  a  valuable  diamond  crystal,  which  spreads 
the  brightness  of  its  heart  and  mind  in  its  activity  for  the 
public  weal,  then  it  was  Leopold  Loew  all  alone  who  created 
the  kernel  of  this  crystal,  for  it  was  he  who  formed  with  his 
peculiar  strength  Magyar  Judaism's  progressive  value  for 
our  fatherland. 

It  is  for  this,  that  at  this  solemn  hour,  dedicated  to  his 
memory,  I  desire  to  answer  the  question :  what  qualities  made 
him  an  instrument  of  Providence  in  our  country  and  by 
what  means  did  he  become  the  prototype  of  the  Magyar 
rabbinical  order? 

I 

Of  the  four  mountains  on  the  united  tops  of  which  accord- 


66  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

ing  to  religious  legend,  God  shall  build  the  temple  of  uni- 
versal bliss,  the  mountain  of  Carmel  is  the  first. 

It  is  here  that  with  brave  resolution,  inflamed  by  his  faith, 
with  the  love  he  bore  for  his  people  and  with  the  conquering 
force  of  truth,  the  prophet  Elias  gave  evidence  of  the  Only 
One,  in  the  wake  of  which  testimony  the  floodgates  of  heaven 
opened  and  new  life  sprouted  on  the  barren  soil  of  the  Holy 
Land. 

Leopold  Loew  was  a  prophet  Elias  for  Magyar  Israel  who 
came  with  dauntless  courage,  with  conscious  knowledge,  with 
armor  taken  from  the  truth  of  his  faith  to  the  bar  and  with 
open  helmet  faced  the  reigning  prejudice  which  condemned 
the  Judaism  of  our  land  to  inanimate  barrenness.  Until  he 
appeared  the  arrows  of  slander  did  not  rebound  from  the 
iron  walls  of  defense,  the  spreading  of  the  flood  of  accusa- 
tions was  not  checked  by  a  towering  rock;  the  shadows 
of  darkness  were  not  dissipated  by  the  light  spread  by 
learning;  it  was  Providence  which  brought  Leopold  Loew 
into  the  land,  that  he  give  clear  evidence  in  behalf  of 
Israel.  And  he  testified  with  enchanting  speech  and  con- 
vincing pen. 

It  was  understood  by  the  Magyar  intellect,  it  was  felt  by 
the  Magyar  heart  that  out  of  a  breast  throbbing  for  the  com- 
mon welfare  of  the  whole  country  sprang  his  longing  to  re- 
lieve Israel  of  the  burden  of  humiliation  it  had  borne  for 
centuries  and  to  bring  his  co-religionists  provided  with  the 
virtues  of  national  civilization,  within  the  entrenchments  of 
civil  rights. 

And  as  of  the  prophet  Elias  tradition  tells  us  Mount  Car- 
mel was  the  stage  where  he  gave  his  testimony  for  the  reason 
that  there  the  darkest  caverns  of  the  Holy  Land  whence  the 
enemies  could  break  forth  with  immunity  upon  the  believers 
of  the  Only  One  were  found,  thus  did  Leopold  Loew  bring 
light  into  every  dark  cavern  of  prejudice  and  slander  and 
repelled  the  aggressors,  whether  they  bore  the  priestly  garb, 
or  the  academic  wreath  or  whether  they  hid  themselves  in 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  67 

anonymous  obscurity,  and  he  thus  cleared  the  road  leading 
to  the  goal  of  national  public  welfare. 

II 

While  in  the  defense  of  his  faith  and  in  the  justification 
of  Israel  Leopold  Loew  tirelessly  did  his  pioneer  work,  there 
sounded  continuously,  louder  and  louder,  the  cry  of  the  bat- 
tle which  called  the  patriots  to  join  the  ranks  for  the  defense 
of  the  country.  There  came  the  mighty  army  of  Sisserak, 
warriors  with  their  chariots  responding  readily  to  the  com- 
mands of  lightning-souled  Barak  and  the  youth  of  Israel 
assembled  on  the  mountain  of  Tabor,  that  for  time  everlast- 
ing they  write  wyith  their  hearts'  blood  on  the  soil  of  the 
Holy  Land  that  the  Jew  can  not  only  live,  but  can  also  die 
for  his  country.  And  Leopold  Loew,  who  at  the  time  of  the 
outbreak  of  the  revolution  had  for  nearly  ten  years  been 
nursing  in  the  rising  generation  the  love  of  fatherland,  who 
was  the  first  Jewish  preacher  to  systematize  the  Magyar 
Sermon  in  the  synagogue,  who  had  been  the  first  Jewish 
teacher  to  insist  on  introducing  the  Magyar  language  in  the 
Jewish  schools  of  Hungary,  Leopold  Loew  now  arose.  In- 
spired, he  called  to  arms,  his  speech  inflamed,  his  example 
attracted. 

On  the  wings  of  enthusiasm  he  went  into  the  camp  and 
took  with  him  thousands  of  youth  to  the  throat  of  death, — 
and  it  almost  happened  that  he  sealed  with  his  blood  the 
covenant  of  the  Magyar  Jew  become  a  Magyar  patriot.  He 
bravely  looked  into  the  face  of  a  glorious  death  for  his  coun- 
try. Behind  the  bars  of  a  prison  he  awaited  the  sentence 
to  die  on  the  gallows. 

Providence,  however,  saved  him,  because  still  greater  mis- 
sions awaited  him.  He  had  then  but  united  two  mighty 
mountain  tops  on  which  a  future  brotherhood  of  men  should 
build  its  temple:  the  Carmel,  testifying  to  the  truth  of 
Israel  and  the  Tabor  of  self-sacrificing  patriotism. 


68  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

Even  then  he  had  secured  for  himself  the  eternal  grati- 
tude of  Magyar  Judaism  because  he  had  aroused  a  more 
just  and  equitable  criticism  of  the  followers  of  his  faith  and 
because  of  the  example  he  had  set,  for  as  the  legend  of  tra- 
dition says  of  the  mountain  Tabor,  that  it  is  the  life's  thread 
which  connects  the  Holy  Land  with  the  living  forces  hidden 
in  the  depths  of  nature,  thus  the  intrepid  love  of  father- 
land is  the  only  life-thread  which  unites  Magyar  Judaism 
with  the  heart  of  our  sweet  mother,  our  country. 

Ill 

The  nation  was  crushed;  the  noise  of  battle  had  grown 
mute;  sadly  the  patriotic  hearts  which  throbbed  in  unison 
and  which  understood  one  another  sought  each  other. 
Hardly  had  the  doors  of  prison  opened  for  Leopold  Loew, 
when  the  cultured  and  patriotic  congregation  of  Szeged,  ap- 
preciating him,  tendered  him  the  guidance  of  its  congrega- 
tional and  spiritual  work  and  entered  into  that  loving  cove- 
nant, which,  as  it  now  appears,  has  lasted  even  beyond  his 
grave.  "What  Leopold  Loew  created  here  is  of  eternal  worth, 
not  only  to  the  faithful  of  Szeged  and  not  only  to  all  of 
Magyar  Israel,  but  for  Judaism  generally;  here  he  erected 
the  third  mountain  top  for  the  sacred  altar  of  the  brother- 
hood of  men,  the  mountain  of  Sinai. 

"Within  our  country  it  was  he  who  opened  the  sources  of  the 
science  of  Jewish  religion.  The  new  branch  of  science  of 
which  he  is  the  founder,  Jewish  archaeology,  had  an  influence 
equal  to  revelation  to  all  those  who  wished  to  meet  with  en- 
lightened ideas  and  thoughts  in  the  field  of  religious  life; 
for  these  are  the  living  elements  of  the  faith  given  on  the 
mountain  of  Sinai  and  the  historic  outgrowths  of  our  present 
religious  life.  The  science  of  Jewish  religion  made  Szeged 
an  European  center.  In  our  fatherland  it  had  become  so 
universally  recognized  that  Leopold  Loew  all  alone  repre- 
sented in  all  Jewish  questions  the  sole  power  of  meritorious 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  69 

and  reliable  decision,  that  just  as  Moses  was  sought  out  by 
the  people  to  submit  to  him  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  of 
Sinai  all  their  big  and  little  matters  of  life  for  adjudication, 
so  the  bulk  of  Jewish  congregations  of  Hungary  and  the 
established  government  and  later  on  the  constitutional  gov- 
ernment, in  all  the  big  and  little  matters  relating  to  Jewish 
religious  questions,  turned  to  him. 

During  two  decades  there  was  no  governmental  disposition 
made  of  any  Jewish  matter  without  the  opinion  of  Leopold 
Loew  and  posterity  owes  him  and  his  glorious  memory  eter- 
nal gratitude  because  his  name  is  interwoven  with  the  success 
of  wiping  from  the  laws  of  the  land  the  humiliating  custom 
and  law  of  the  Jewish  oath  and  because  his  name  shines 
bright  with  that  of  Bertalan  Szemere,  Joseph  Eotvos,  Fran- 
cis Deak  and  with  that  of  Gabriel  Klauzal,  who  sleeps  his 
dreamless  sleep  in  the  cemetery  of  Szeged,  as  the  foremost 
champion  of  Jewish  Emancipation. 

IV 

The  leader  of  Magyar  Israel  was  the  priest  of  the  Jews  of 
Szeged,  he  was  the  creator  of  the  priestly  zeal,  the  prototype 
of  the  faithful  shepherd  to  the  loyal  flock  entrusted  to  his 
care.  He,  in  whose  breast  the  sorrow  of  all  Israel  throbbed, 
whose  horizon  embraced  with  thoughtful  care  the  whole  of 
the  Judaism  of  the  country,  that  for  the  common  welfare  of 
the  country  he  might  build  the  temple  of  a  coining  brother- 
hood of  men,  he  realized  his  ideals  within  the  narrower  cir- 
cles of  his  activity  where  he  was  a  blessing  to  his  faithful 
followers,  as  was  the  legendary  mountain  top,  the  dewy  Her- 
mon,  at  the  foot  of  which  springs  the  fructifying  stream  of 
the  Holy  Land,  carrying  its  blissful  influence  throughout 
the  land  that  Canaan  might  be  rich  with  milk  and  honey. 

Invigorating  honey  flowed  from  the  teachings  of  his  lips, 
strengthening  milk  from  his  labor  and  fructifying  dew  fell 
from  the  throbbings  of  his  heart  over  the  meads  of  love, 


70  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

which  now  bring  the  wreath  of  gratitude  to  his  eternally 
green  memory. 

And  as  at  one  time  it  was  on  the  top  of  the  Hermon,  the 
highest  mountain  of  the  Holy  Land,  that  the  bonfires  were 
lit  that  for  the  exiled  Israel  they  might  announce  the  new 
moon,  the  coming  of  a  new  era,  or  the  approach  of  a  holiday, 
thus  look  Magyar  Israel's  Rabbis  on  the  activity  of  Leopold 
Loew,  which  lights  up  with  its  splendor  the  path  on  which 
we  must  proceed,  that  we  may  prepare  for  the  coming  of  that 
new  epoch,  the  most  sacred  feast  of  the  universal  peace  of 
the  brotherhood  of  men. 

The  ideal  dream  picture  of  the  legendary  altar  is  before 
our  mental  vision  when  we  are  remembering  thee,  thou  glo- 
rious spirit  of  Leopold  Loew  and  we  give  thanks  to  the 
mighty  Lord  who  reigneth  over  the  universe,  whose  provi- 
dence, for  the  blissful  benefit  of  Magyar  Israel,  sent  thee, 
who  held  high  the  torch  of  Elias  in  the  defense  of  the  faith, 
who  kindled  the  fire  of  Barak  in  thy  teachings  of  patriotism, 
who  spread  the  spirit  of  Moses  in  the  practice  of  religion 
and  who  blessed  in  thy  priesthood  with  the  dew  of  Hermon. 
Be  with  us  who  loyally  follow  thee;  thou  art  our  example 
that  through  us  too  may  come  nearer  the  realization  of  man- 
kind's most  beauteous  dream,  that  the  roof  be  set  to  the  tem- 
ple of  our  Only  One,  who  created  the  soul  of  the  universe 
where  arm  in  arm  will  gather  in  the  peace  of  love,  the  peo- 
ples of  all  of  the  world.  Amen ! 


THE  MEMORY  OF  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

DEDICATORY     SERMON,     DELIVERED     BY     DR.     ADOLPH     LOWINGER, 
RABBI    OF    SZEGED,    AT    THE    UNVEILING    OP    THE    ME- 
MORIAL TABLET  ERECTED  AT  THE  SZEGED  SYNA- 
GOGUE, AT  THE  LEOPOLD  LOEW   CEN- 
TENARY, ON  JUNE  4TH,  1911 

"Blessed  be  he  by  the  Lord  who  hath  not  withheld  His  love  from  the 
living  and  the  dead." 

GOD'S  blessing  on  you,  you  remaining  pillars  of  our  glori- 
ous past,  who  have  seen  the  shining  face  of  the  great  man, 
who  have  heard  the  wise  teachings  of  his  lips,  who  have  fol- 
lowed the  noble  example  of  his  life,  who,  with  throbbing 
hearts,  thirsty  souls  and  youthful  enthusiasm  hung  on  each 
of  his  words,  and  who  to-day  stand  with  hoary  heads,  bent 
by  the  weight  of  years,  with  souls  tempest-tossed,  before  an 
open  grave  and  moved  to  the  core  of  your  hearts,  as  you 
see  a  divine  being  rise  from  the  earth,  rejuvenated  in  life 
and  strength,  new  born  in  intellect  and  wisdom,  risen  in 
splendor  and  glory. 

God's  blessing  on  you,  you  two  great  lights  of  ours,  the 
leaders, — spiritual  and  lay  leaders  of  our  congregation,  who 
led  us,  since  we  have  become  orphans, — a  herd  which  lost  its 
shepherd, — with  unselfish  love,  deep  intelligence,  bright  in- 
tellectual force,  who  guarded  with  wide-awake  care,  with 
vigilant  eyes  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  since  the  shepherd's 
staff  of  Judah  had  fallen. 

God's  blessing  on  you,  you,  "the  seventy  from  among  the 
hoary  heads  of  Israel,"  the  officers  and  the  representatives 
of  our  congregation  whom  the  Lord  had  chosen  that  you,  too, 

71 


72  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

bear  the  heavy  burden  and  the  weighty  care  of  the  people. 

God's  blessing  on  the  municipal  government  of  our  city 
and  on  each  citizen  thereof,  on  all  of  you  who  have  made  your 
pilgrimage  here;  as  at  one  time,  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tain of  Sinai  all  Israel  was  in  camp,  that  with  one  heart 
and  soul  the  splendor  of  our  feast  be  raised,  the  fires  of  our 
tribute  be  lit  and  the  flames  of  our  love  and  gratitude  be 
kindled  to  new  life. 

God's  blessing  on  you,  who  rest  in  your  graves,  who  should 
be  here  with  us  in  our  circle,  whom  our  purblind  eyes  look 
for  lovingly,  because  you  were  flourishing  branches  of  Judah's 
race,  dauntless  warriors  of  his  camp,  enthusiastic  standard 
bearers  of  his  immortal  soul,  loyal  soldiers  of  his  inspired 
thoughts,  but  who  fell  before  your  time,  kind  Providence' 
bless  you  in  your  dust,  be  blessed  by  Him,  who  does  not 
withhold  his  love  from  the  living  and  the  dead!  Amen. 

Our  love  divine  evidencing  itself  for  our  great  departed 
Leopold  Loew,  is  our  memorial  festival  to-day,  the  feast  of 
his  rejuvenation,  of  his  new  birth. 

His  death  was  but  the  beginning  of  the  eternity  of  his  mind 
and  soul  and  we  have  been  led  by  a  kind  providence  to  put 
into  a  form  this  spirit  and  to  embody  into  visible  form  this 
soul,  to  immortalize  his  memory  with  this  memorial  tablet. 

' '  With  his  death  the  two  tablets  of  law  broke ' ' ;  the  carrier 
of  the  divine  message  rests  in  his  grave,  but  this  does  not 
mean  the  end  of  the  divine  words.  The  body  fell  into  a 
heap,  but  the  divine  call,  the  heavenly  spirit,  the  word,  the 
law  remains,  is  immortal,  all  we  must  do  is  to  put  into  a  new 
form,  so  that  in  a  definite  form  we  may  behold  what  is  in- 
finite. 

It  is  for  this  that  the  Lord  said:  "I  shall  inscribe  on  the 
new  tablet  what  had  been  written  on  the  first  tablets." 

I  write  upon  them  the  name  of  Leopold  Loew,  that  we  may 
gain  light  from  his  everlasting  brightness,  wisdom  from  his 
measureless  learning,  example  from  his  ideal  life,  for  it  is 
not  he  Avho  never  dies,  whom  we  must  wake  to  new  life;  it 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  73 

is  not  his  memory  we  must  renew  who  has  inscribed  his  name 
for  everlasting  time  into  the  book  of  history  of  the  nation 
and  of  Judaism;  but  it  is  our  forgetful  heart,  the  sleeping 
soul  of  posterity  must  we  arouse  towards  the  memory  of 
the  great  and  glorious  man. 

Let  this  memorial  tablet  engrave  into  our  minds  what  is 
written  of  our  tablets  of  law :  ' '  The  tablets  were  deeds  of  the 
Lords,  the  writing  was  writing  divine  engraved  into  the  tab- 
lets." 

The  evidence  of  this  tablet  shall  bear  witness,  that  Leopold 
Loew's  activity,  efforts,  struggles,  the  story  of  his  whole 
life  was  a  divine  act. 

Every  step  of  his  was  guided  by  faith,  every  deed  of  his 
was  directed  by  faith,  his  words  of  teaching,  reproaching, 
admonishing,  reminding,  inspiring  were  the  whispers  of 
faith. 

"He  was  the  messenger  of  God,  the  Lord  of  hosts"  to 
encourage  the  faint-hearted,  to  console  the  mourners,  enthuse 
the  timid,  to  make  light  where  darkness  dwells,  to  arouse 
hope  where  woe  obtains,  to  improve  faith  where  despair 
lowers.  He  was  God's  messenger  that  on  the  wings  of  his 
soul  he  raise  his  fellow-men  into  the  bright,  sunlit  heights  of 
heaven. 

"His  writings  were  the  writings  of  God,"  because  the 
prophet  says :  ' '  The  lips  of  the  priest  guard  the  learning,  and 
out  of  his  mouth  are  expected  his  teachings."  To  such  a 
mission  he  devoted  his  entire  life.  He  nursed,  strengthened, 
distributed  learning.  He  descended  into  the  depths  of  the 
literature  of  tradition  and  brought  precious  gems,  everlast- 
ing valuable  treasures  into  daylight.  He  descended  into  the 
dark  graves  of  ancient  days  and  he  made  the  sleepers  speak 
again.  He  interpreted  all  their  thoughts,  longings,  hopes  and 
dreams,  so  that  on  the  path  of  our  ancient  teachers,  he  might 
lead  Israel,  that  the  pillar  of  flame  of  the  desert  and  the 
flame  of  the  Sinai  light  our  labyrinthal  pathway. 

"Engraved  in  the  tablets"  it  is,  but  read  not  only  what  is 


74  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

engraved,  but  regard  this  marble  tablet  also  as  the  symbol 
of  liberty;  for  he  was  the  inspired  prophet  of  liberty,  the 
enthusiastic  champion  of  law,  the  fearless  leader  of  truth, 
and  the  glorified  martyr  of  the  ideals  of  enlightenment. 

When  the  sea  was  in  the  way  of  Israel's  victorious  march, 
Judah  stepped  into  the  rushing  waves  and  cut  a  path  through 
the  waves  which  threatened  to  swallow  the  truth. 

Leopold  Loew  stood  on  the  bloodstained  field  of  the  battle 
of  liberty  and  encouraged  to  steadfastness,  inspired  to  the 
fight,  enthused  to  patriotism. 

He  took  the  field  for  the  rights  of  the  Jew,  and  he  fought 
with  the  power  of  the  pen,  the  force  of  speech ;  he  struggled 
with  the  splendor  of  the  thought  and  led  his  brethren  from 
the  yoke  of  mediaeval  ideas  into  the  soft,  fresh,  enlivening 
air  of  modern  day. 

He  breathed  the  spirit  of  eternal  life  into  the  decrepit, 
tired  corpse  of  Judaism. 

' '  This  is  the  dedication  of  the  altar  on  which  day  the  princes 
of  Israel  consecrated  the  same."  "We  consecrate  this  me- 
morial tablet  that  it  may  be  a  new  altar  of  our  sanctum. 
Here  resound  our  psalms  at  the  time  of  our  joys,  here  break 
forth  our  sighs  in  the  hour  of  our  sorrow,  here  flow  our 
tears  on  the  days  of  our  grief  and  here  do  we  listen  to  the 
word  of  God  falling  from  the  lips  of  those  who  inherited  his 
spirit  and  fill  his  mission.  In  the  front  of  them  and  at 
their  back  is  the  sublime  ideal  picture,  at  their  back  the 
Thora,  facing  them :  by  example,  at  their  back  the  tablets  of 
the  law,  before  them  thy  memorial  tablet  and  thou  dost  place 
thy  hand  in  blessing  on  their  heads,  that  in  dauntless 
strength,  in  complete  mental  and  physical  health  they  may 
stand  here,  at  this  sacred  spot,  to  their  hoariest  age.  And 
when  the  years  shall  have  flown  by,  when  new  generations 
shall  seek  fame  from  the  glory  radiating  from  this  marble 
tablet  and  take  courage  from  the  name  thereon  engraved,  and 
hope  from  the  example  set  by  thee,  build  up  their  faith  from 
the  lessons  thou  didst  teach  and  when  ceaselessly  moving  time 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  75 

shall  even  turn  this  stone  to  dust;  the  immortal  bliss  spring- 
ing from  thy  name  shall  rejuvenate  the  grateful  hearts  of 
these  coming  generations  in  their  religious  deeds,  in  their 
patriotic  impulses. 

Come  then,  thou  glorious  spirit ;  be  greeted  immortal  spirit 
hewn  into  stone.  Welcome,  sacred  relic !  With  the  most  holy 
piety  of  our  souls,  with  the  most  rhapsodic  love  of  our  hearts, 
do  we  receive  thee  in  this  sacred  mansion  of  the  Lord  God, 
that  thou  mayest  light  us  with  the  brightness  of  thy  soul, 
be  with  us  with  the  warmth  of  thy  heart,  lead  us  with  the 
flame  of  thy  faith,  and  be  blessed  by  the  Eternal,  who  does 
not  withhold  His  love  from  the  living  and  the  dead.  Amen. 


LEOPOLD  LOEW 

MEMORIAL   SPEECH   DELIVERED   ON   JUNE   4,    1911,   BY 
DR.   IMMANUEL  LOEW. 

"This  is  the  blessing  wherewith  Moses,  the  man  of  God,  before  his 
death  blessed  the  children  of  Israel." 

MOSES,  according  to  an  ancient  tradition,  is  one  of  the  ten 
men  whom  the  scriptures  call  the  "man  of  God,"  the  man. 
chosen  by  divine  providence. 

The  celebration  of  centenaries  is  a  new  phenomena  in  the 
circle  of  Judaism.  The  first  centenary  celebrated  by  us 
was  that  of  Rappaport,  the  founder  among  us  of  historical 
research,  held  about  two  decades  ago. 

Our  co-religionists,  suffering  the  after  effects  of  the  medi- 
aeval times,  did  not  gladly  renew  the  memories  of  the  past 
and  for  this  reason  they  were  tardy  in  the  celebration  of 
the  memory  of  men  of  bygone  days. 

Our  co-religionists  in  Germany  during  this  year  will  have 
celebrated  five  centenaries ;  those  of  Riesser,  Frankel,  Hirsch, 
Geiger,  and  in  the  last  days  of  this  year  will  come  that  of 
Philippson. 

They  celebrated  the  birthday  of  the  champion  of  their 
civil  rights,  of  the  profound  founder  of  Talmudic  research,  of 
the  rejuvenator  of  religious  zeal  and  of  the  preeminent  cham- 
pion of  progress  as  demanded  by  history,  and  they  will  cele- 
brate the  creation  of  Jewish  sectarian  newspaperdom. 

"What  they  have  been  celebrating  in  Germany  piecemeal, 
we  celebrate  in  our  land  by  one  feast,  because  he,  whose 
centenary  we  celebrate  to-day,  fulfilled  here  the  missions  of 
all  the  five  leaders  named. 

76 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  77 

I.  The  first  whom  the  scriptures  call  a  man  of  God  is 
Elkanah,  of  whom  the  scriptures  have  only  noted  the  perfect 
picture  of  his  sympathetic  family  life. 

A  man  of  God  our  father  in  his  family  life  was  to  us. 
And  how  happy  he  was  amidst  the  old,  somewhat  narrow  con- 
ditions in  which  he  lived  with  our  mother;  who  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  month  would  set  aside  the  prices  of  the  need- 
ful postage  stamps  to  send  letters  to  the  children  who  had 
already  left  the  paternal  roof.  Amidst  those  narrow  con- 
ditions what  love  reigned  among  us  in  the  paternal  home ! 
And  how  did  he  find  time,  he  the  profound  scholar,  the 
leader  of  thought,  the  warrior  in  public  life, — how  did  he 
find  time  amidst  the  tasks  of  science,  the  struggles  of  pub- 
lic life,  the  cares  of  his  office,  to  occupy  himself  with  us,  his 
children,  those  who  were  still  at  home  and  those  he  had  al- 
lowed to  enter  a  larger  life. 

It  was  seldom  that  we  were  all  together  at  home,  only 
once  were  we  twelve  children  together.  At  the  celebration 
held  yesterday  it  was  forty  years  that  all  the  twelve  of  us 
gathered  around  him  to  celebrate  his  birthday;  thou  my 
brother,  who,  prompted  by  filial  devotion  hast  come  to  to- 
day's festival  from  thy  trans- Atlantic  home,  wert  then  the 
only  exception. 

Now  we  sisters  and  brothers  are  again  all -together  but  our 
number  is  reduced. 

Our  Mollie  is  not  with  us;  she  to  whose  memory  he  had 
with  bleeding  heart  erected  a  memorial  in  the  preface  of  his 
last  work;  nor  our  darling  Therese,  who  died  during  the 
mourning  year  of  her  father;  nor  our  Tobie,  who  to-morrow 
would  have  begun  his  68th  year,  and  whose  31st  anniversary 
of  death  will  fall  some  day  of  the  coming  week ;  and  not  our 
Theodore  for  whom  we  unconsciously  look  in  his  accustomed 
pew,  for  we  are  still  in  the  year  of  mourning  in  which  we 
lost  him. 

II.  Mica,  the  prophet,  was  the  second  spoken  of  by  the 
scriptures  as  the  man  of  God. 


78  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

One  of  the  creative  elements  of  the  prophetic  mission  is 
the  priestly  activity. 

And  what  a  priest  was  Leopold  Loew,  with  his  enchanting 
manners  that  endeared  him  alike  to  great  and  small  who 
came  to  him  for  sympathetic  advice,  for  consolation  and  en- 
couragement! And  what  a  priest  was  he  as  he  stood  up  in 
his  pulpit.  How  enraptured  they  hung  on  his  lips,  how  in- 
spiring was  his  speech;  how  enthusiastic  his  influence  when 
the  hoary  priest  spoke  to  his  congregation. 

This  year's  Passover  festival  was  the  50th  aniversary  of 
his  celebration  of  the  resurrection  of  the  nation.  Those  who 
were  present  will  never  forget  it.  When  throughout  this 
broad  land  the  congregations  of  the  faithful  dedicated  a  new 
synagogue,  when  patriotic  piety  celebrated  a  national  feast, 
when  throughout  the  land  the  emancipation  of  the  Jews  was 
being  celebrated,  it  was  his  voice  which  resounded  because 
prophetic  inspiration  poured  from  his  lip  when  he  spoke. 

What  prophetic,  inspiring  language  flowed  from  him 
when  he  delivered  the  marriage  sermons  at  the  weddings  of 
his  children,  two  of  them  here  at  his  home,  two  of  them  at 
the  capital.  His  was  a  wonderful  figure,  holding  his  hearers 
spellbound  with  an  irresistible  magic. 

At  Leipzig,  in  Germany,  there  were  in  congress  assembled 
the  cream  and  the  brains  of  German  Judaism  to  discuss  the 
conditions  of  rejuvenated  Judaism  and  a  famous  philosopher. 
Professor  Lazarus  presided.  When  the  meetings  ended  and 
the  discussions  closed,  Leopold  Loew  arose  and  blessed  the 
president  of  the  congress.  Those  present  felt  as  if  they  had 
heard  a  successor  of  the  old  prophets,  speaking  with  the  en- 
thusiasm of  a  noble  soul,  with  inspired  piety  and  deep  emo- 
tion born  of  sublime  faith. 

III.  Samuel  is  the  third  Biblical  figure  of  whom  it  is  writ- 
ten that  he  is  a  man  of  God. 

Leopold  Loew's  social  position  in  this  city  was  absolutely 
new  in  the  history  of  the  Jews  and  in  their  relation  to  the 
peoples  in  the  midst  of  which  he  lived. 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  79 

His  activity,  the  part  he  played  in  public  life,  his  rela- 
tionship to  the  ministers  and  priests  of  the  other  religious 
denominations  was  totally  unprecedented  in  the  history  of 
scattered  Judaism. 

When  for  the  first  time  since  its  foundation  the  city  caused 
its  history  to  be  written,  the  manuscript  was  submitted  to  a 
committee  of  which  the  Jewish  Rabbi  was  the  chairman. 

When  the  city  sent  a  congratulatory  delegation  to  a 
national  festival  in  honor  of  Francis  Toldi,  the  founder  of 
the  history  of  Magyar  literature,  the  city  selected  the  Jew- 
ish Rabbi  as  leader  of  that  delegation. 

When  the  city  tendered  its  unanimous  nomination  as  its 
representative  in  the  national  legislature  to  the  famous  his- 
torian, Bishop  Michael  Horvath,  as  its  spokesman  before  the 
Roman  Catholic  Bishop,  the  city  selected  the  Jewish  Rabbi. 

His  name  lent  luster  to  his  rabbinical  position  and  his 
bold  fights  against  those  who  attacked  Judaism  lent  glory 
to  his  congregation  in  Szeged. 

The  prophet  Samuel,  the  man  of  God,  also  did  not  reside 
and  did  not  labor  in  the  focus  of  national  life.  He  lived  in 
an  interior  town,  at  Ramah.  Leopold  Loew  was  too  solid, 
too  mighty  and  too  conscientious  an  individuality  to  cause 
the  plutocratic  leaders  of  the  congregation  of  Magyar 
Jerusalem  to  think  of  him  when  on  two  occasions  they  sought, 
during  his  lifetime,  a  rabbi  for  their  spiritual  guidance.  But 
for  all  that  he  fulfilled  his  great  mission  right  here  at  Szeged. 

It  seemed  as  if  he  had  spoken  of  himself  when  he  said: 
"Magyar  Judaism  needs  rabbis  of  scholarly  attainments  and 
independent  character,  who  are  able  and  who  are  willing  with 
zeal  and  devotion  to  defend  Jewish  honor  against  attacks 
from  without,  our  Jewish  tenets  against  attacks  from 
within. 

IV.  The  fourth  whom  the  scriptures  say  to  have  been  a 
man  of  God  is  Elijah,  the  master  of  the  prophetic  schools. 

Leopold  Loew  was  a  schoolmaster,  a  master  of  teaching. 
He  taught  when  still  a  youth,  but  later  on  he  secured  the 


80  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

technical  qualifications  for  the  science  of  teaching  at  a  foreign 
institution. 

Judaism  always  taught.  It  had  an  ideal  as  to  the  end  and 
as  to  the  result  but  it  had  no  theory  as  to  the  method  of 
teaching.  Much  force  was  lost  in  this  unsystematic  learning, 
but  those  who,  notwithstanding  this  lack  of  system  in  their 
tuition,  completed  their  studies,  were  remarkable  for  the 
thoroughness  of  their  acquisitions. 

He  taught.  He  founded  schools,  built  them  and  superin- 
tended them.  He  wrote  text-books  and  as  far  back  as  1844 
he  insisted  on  higher  education  and  unfurled  the  flag  of  a 
rabbinical  seminary.  The  highest  authority  in  Hungary  on 
the  field  of  Pedagogy,  Maurus  Karman,  was  his  pupil. 

V.  The  fifth  is  the  divine  psalmist  David,  of  him  says 
the  scripture :  ' '  an  the  lute  of  the  man  of  God,  David. ' ' 

One  of  the  foremost  tasks  of  Leopold  Loew's  life  was  the 
artistic  perfection  of  the  divine  service.  He  fought  enthusi- 
astically for  the  recognition  of  twTo  arts  as  aides  to  divine 
services;  one  was  song  and  music,  which  ever  since  his  boy- 
hood days  had  been  near  his  heart,  the  other  was  the  high 
art  of  speech,  for  which  his  refined  taste  had  grown  en- 
thusiastic. It  was  {esthetic  sense  of  form,  that  had  also 
come  to  him  from  foreign  sources,  from  the  study  of  the 
ancient  and  modern  classics. 

The  arts  of  the  living  speech  and  of  the  song  conquered  the 
synagogue.  And  what  a  glorious  art  was  his  speech,  when 
with  deep  emotion  he  expounded  the  scriptures  or  when  with 
refined  taste  his  eloquence  poured  forth  to  inspire  his 
hearers. 

VI.  The  sixth  is  the  fiery  souled  prophet,  Elias,  the  revo- 
lutionary spirit  of  the  prophet,  Elias,  inspired  Leopold  Loew 
in  his  efforts  for  progress. 

It  was  never  with  indifference  but  always  with  the  rejuve- 
nated zeal  of  faithful  souls  that  the  Baal-crushing  spirit  of 
the  prophet  Elias  reformed  the  institutions  of  religion. 

Leopold  Loew  wanted  to  raise  the  esteem  in  which  the  re- 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  81 

ligion  of  the  Jews  is  held  and  he  wanted  to  deepen  their  own 
sense  of  religious  feeling. 

Wisely  and  gently  yielding  according  to  the  needs  and 
culture  of  the  day,  Judaism,  brought  into  unison  with  Euro- 
pean civilization,  was  strengthened  and  glorified  by  him. 

The  extremes  are  enemies  of  equal  force  and  the  boiling 
point  and  the  freezing  point  have  the  like  power  to  kill. 

The  boiling  zealotism  and  the  cold,  dull  indifference,  are 
alike  capable  of  destruction.  Since  the  very  first  line  of  his 
brilliant  literary  career  to  its  very  last  letter,  he  fought  with 
determination  against  both. 

His  work  was  that  of  saving  and  building  up,  and  not 
destroying.  The  symptoms  of  emasculation  frightened  him; 
he  demanded  that  the  stagnation  of  accustomed  routine  be 
infused  with  the  fresh  circulating  blood  of  new  interest.  It 
had  been  constantly  said  of  Judaism  that  its  twigs  were  fall- 
ing, its  branches  dismembered,  its  trunk  covered  with  foul 
moss ;  that  in  vain  the  sun  of  spring  shone  and  that  no  more 
the  tree  would  bloom.  According  to  his  conviction  the  vital 
root  of  Judaism  is  a  force  destined  to  live  forever. 

Misconception  only  increased  his  sincere  efforts,  obstruc- 
tion strengthened  his  ready  forces,  complicated  struggle 
fanned  him  into  fiery  enthusiasm,  inimical  attacks  welded  him 
the  more  closely  to  the  cause. 

The  invective  of  onslaughts  and  the  anonymous  letters  are 
to  day  but  relics,  memorable  relics  of  his  bravery. 

VII.  The  seventh  is  the  prophet  Semayaha,  of  whom,  the 
scriptures  have  kept  alive  the  information  that  his 
mission  consisted  only  in  one  message.  This  is  that  one 
message :  "  do  not  war  with  your  brothers,  with  the  children 
of  Israel." 

Leopold  Loew  was  the  champion  of  the  cause  of  emancipa- 
tion. According  to  his  motto:  "Open  thy  lips  in  behalf  of 
the  mutes,"  he  entered  the  arena  against  prejudice.  His 
weapons  are  the  evidences  of  intellect  and  learning. 

Of  his  own  vocation  he  says:  "Let  us  stand  steadfast  for 


82  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

our  people,  and  for  the  cities  of  our  God,  and  may  the  Lord 
do  as  in  His  wisdom  He  thinks  for  the  best!"  All  his  work 
and  all  his  discussions  are  guided  by  this  one  thought. 

During  the  ten  years  of  the  publication  of  the  "Ben 
Chananja,"  it  was  this  struggle  which  stood  at  the  forefront. 

In  1861,  he  said:  "The  press, — even  the  great  newspapers, 
— are  using  petty  excuses  in  the  fight  for  emancipation." 
Opposing  them,  he  referred  to  the  patience  of  the  Magyar 
heathens  and  most  appropriately  to  the  persecution  of  the 
Magyar  heathens.  Readily,  persistently,  with  steadfast  loy- 
alty, bravely,  fearlessly  and  with  dauntless  tenacity  he  served 
the  cause  of  Magyar  Judaism. 

The  Jews  of  the  neighboring  semi-Asiatic  countries,  Servia 
and  Roumania,  appealed  to  him  for  his  help  when  in  Servia 
and  Roumania  the  fanaticism  of  the  mediaeval  ages  broke 
forth. 

He  lifted  from  us  the  shameful  separate  oath.  He  de- 
fended Judaism  against  those  last  extraordinary  ghetto  taxes 
wherewith  the  absolute  government  intended  to  pester  it. 

He  raised  his  voice  against  the  infamous  measures  in  the 
matter  of  the  school  superintendents  and  in  that  of  the  right 
of  marriage.  For  his  articles  on  these  subjects  he  had  been 
cited  before  the  military  tribunals,  charged  with  insurrec- 
tion against  the  authorities,  and  was  sentenced  to  imprison- 
ment. The  chivalrous  military  commander,  Count  Erbach, 
it  being  at  the  time  of  the  birthday  of  His  Majesty,  pardoned 
him. 

When  the  dawn  of  constitutional  life  had  come  and  the 
Magyar  nation  discharged  its  debt,  when,  touched  to  the  core 
of  his  heart,  he  could  speak,  he  said :  ' '  Deeply  grateful  to  the 
ruler  of  men's  fate,  we  greet  the  victory  of  justice,  of 
national  self-consciousness,  of  political  character  and  of  the 
dauntless  patience  of  morality." 

VIII.  The  eighth  is  Amos,  whose  son  Isaiah  had  inherited 
the  father's  powerful  eloquence  and  the  charm  of  the  written 
language. 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  83 

"When  Leopold  Loew  wrote  in  the  ancient  Hebrew  language, 
his  words  held  a  magic  effect.  A  noble  simplicity  dwelt  in 
his  prose;  the  purified  taste  of  the  Arab  school,  a  highly  de- 
veloped sense  of  beauty  of  form  evidenced  itself  in  his  poetry. 
His  Hebrew  epitaphs  are  free  from  exaggeration  and  from 
commonplaceness.  The  dedicatory  lines  of  the  "Ben  Chan- 
anja,"  here  and  there  a  fiery,  cutting  epigram,  the  clos- 
ing poetic  lines  of  one  or  the  other  obituary,  are  veritable 
gems  of  the  poetry  of  the  ancient  language. 

He  was  a  master  of  German  prose.  In  all  the  Judaism  of 
great  Germany  there  was  no  one  who  equaled  the  artistic 
style  of  him  who  wrote  here  on  the  shore  of  the  Tisza. 
It  is  universally  recognized  that  he  created  the  style  of  Jew- 
ish jurisprudence  and  archaeology ;  the  brilliancy  and  the 
mastery  of  his  style  have  been  pointed  out  by  a  famous  Ger- 
man writer. 

His  greatest  successes  were  achieved  on  the  field  of  jour- 
nalism. Being  ever  ready  with  his  broad,  comprehensive 
learning,  his  positive  convictions  on  matters  of  public  life, 
the  sharpness  of  his  pen,  though  feared,  made  him  a  great 
journalist.  His  journalistic  tilt  with  Kossuth  and  Szekacs 
(1844)  and  two  decades  later  with  Trefort,  were  glorious 
triumphs. 

His  newspaper  was  the  mirror  of  the  epoch  and  the  leader 
of  its  struggles.  He  was  a  power  in  public  life.  The  many 
articles  written  by  him  on  the  divers  subjects  connected  with 
his  high-set  task,  proclaim  the  many  sidedness  of  its  editor. 

He  entered  the  arena  for  the  rights  of  the  Jew  in  the 
state,  for  the  rights  of  the  congregation  for  self-government, 
for  the  rights  of  the  single  member  of  the  congregation,  for 
the  rights  of  the  past  by  a  deeper  understanding  of  its  ex- 
periences, and  for  the  rights  of  the  present  by  urging  the 
solution  of  new  difficulties  with  moderation  to  save  the  con- 
gregations from  dismemberment  or  injustice.  Over  and  above 
these,  he  urged  advancement  of  civilization,  improvements  in 
popular  education,  the  ennobling  of  the  divine  service,  the 


84  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

logical  explanation  of  the  literature  of  tradition  and  higher 
qualifications  of  the  rabbis. 

He  was  conscientious  in  that  which  he  proclaimed,  namely: 
that  the  periodical  press  of  Judaism  had  a  twofold  task; 
with  one  hand  to  fight  against  prejudice  and  stubborn  hatred, 
with  the  other  to  build  up  the  bulwarks  of  science,  just  as 
the  laborers  of  Nehemia's  did  twofold  work  in  the  holy 
capital. 

IX.  The  ninth  of  whom  the  scriptures  speak  is  Iddo,  the 
prophet,  the  first  of  whom  it  is  written  that  he  wrote  an 
historical  work,  setting  forth  therein  the  doings  of  his  epoch. 

It  was  Leopold  Loew's  conviction  that  learning  is  the  most 
important  Jewish  common  possession;  and  the  idea  of  his- 
torical development, — the  motive  power  of  his  practical  ac- 
tivity,— was  ever  the  guide  of  his  scientific  aims. 

This  hidden  motive  makes  us  understand  his  scientific  ac- 
tivity from  beginning  to  end. 

The  Jewish  religion  is  the  inspiring,  holy,  imperishable 
heirloom  of  the  whole  of  the  rich  past  of  Israel. 

This  entire  past  must  be  explored,  laid  bare  and  viewed 
calmly  without  prejudice  and  without  bias. 

To  the  friends  of  progress  be  recommended  objectivity  and 
a  deeper  insight  of  the  spirit  of  the  epochs,  because  prog- 
ress is  not  worthy  if  it  cannot  justify  itself  by  historical 
methods. 

From  this  line  of  thought  grew  a  new  science;  Jewish 
archaeology,  which  gives  an  account  of  the  ancient  heirloom, 
of  the  assimilation  of  foreign  elements  and  of  the  origin  of 
present  conditions. 

From  his  library  which  though  gathered  with  painful  sac- 
rifices was  nevertheless  but  limited,  from  his  marvelous  ex- 
ploration of  sources,  from  his  brilliant  memory  and  extensive 
reading,  he  displayed  an  inexhaustible  readiness  in  the  field 
of  science. 

This  immense  learning  of  his  made  him  an  authority  of 
the  highest  rank.  Governments,  synods,  congregations 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  85 

turned  to  him  with  their  inquiries.  He  responded  readily. 
Not  with  the  decisions  or  dicta  of  the  ancient  world,  but 
with  his  reasons  based  upon  historical  facts,  rebuilt  with 
modern  methods  and  on  the  results  of  his  archaeological  re- 
searches. 

This  method  of  his  studies  created  the  Jewish  archaeology 
and  as  far  as  his  literary  activity  was  concerned  it  forced  his 
journalistic  and  historical  labors  to  the  rear. 

In  this  field,  as  well  as  in  the  field  of  Magyar  Jewish 
historical  writing,  he  was  the  pioneer. 

X.  The  last  whom  the  scripture  calls  the  man  of  God 
is  Moses,  the  prophet  of  the  idea  of  securing  a  fatherland. 

Magyar  constitutional  life  was  for  Leopold  Loew  the  prom- 
ised land  of  liberty.  Already  in  the  40 's  this  was  his  con- 
viction. Zoltan  Beothy  expressed  it  very  aptly  by  saying: 
"Progress  and  the  thought  of  the  unity  of  Magyarism  had 
grown  to  be  part  and  parcel  of  our  very  souls."  This  had 
created  in  Leopold  Loew,  ever  since  he  had  come  into  this 
country,  the  conviction,  that  the  most  important  Jewish  public 
affair  in  Hungary  was  the  ascendency,  the  importance  and  the 
necessity  for  final  triumph  of  Magyarism.  This  conviction 
inspired  his  enthusiasm  for  the  Magyar  language,  the  de- 
livery of  his  sermons  in  the  national  idiom  and  his  studies 
of  the  Jews  and  Judaism  in  Hungary. 

For  this  early  patriotism  his  pulpit  assumed  mourning 
when  the  nation  mourned,  for  Szechenyi,  Teleki,  Klauzal, 
Eotvos  and  Zay.  This  led  him  into  the  camp  of  the  de- 
fenders of  the  country.  Because  of  his  conviction  he  spoke 
thus:  "We  know  well  the  past  and  the  present  of  our  father- 
land and  well  do  we  know  that  relationship  which  exists  in 
our  country  between  civilization  and  the  developments  of  the 
constitution  and  the  Magyar  element.  The  exclusion  of  the 
Jews  from  civil  and  political  rights  is  the  sorrowful  inheri- 
tance of  the  fanaticism  of  the  past,  so  the  public  may  under- 
stand how  very  foreign  to  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  to  the 
liberal  institutions  which  the  Magyar  nation  has  been  steadily 


86  LEOPOLD  LOEW 

striving  to  establish  is  this  exclusion  born  of  fanaticism." 

It  seems  as  if  these  words  spoken  in  1861  are  heard  now 
as  a  reproach,  unreasonable,  but  honest,  blind  zeal  and  cal- 
culating demonstrativeness  united  at  the  time  to  perpetuate 
the  prejudices  and  the  misconceptions  of  the  past.  This  is 
what  he  wrote  a  half  century  ago. 

What  at  that  time  did  not  succeed,  unfortunately  succeeds 
now,  in  our  days,  in  the  deplorable  epoch  of  the  fading  away 
of  the  great  Magyar  traditions ;  for  now  not  blind  and  honest 
zeal,  but  calculating  selfishness  has  become  a  dangerous  power 
and  without  concealment,  and  relentlessly  is  demolishing  the 
liberal  ideas  of  the  old  Magyar  life. 

The  happy  current  toward  liberty,  which  under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  wise  man  of  the  fatherland  built  up  New 
Hungary,  Leopold  Loew  helped  to  create. 

His  activity  in  Magyar  public  life  left  deep  traces  and 
prescribed  the  way  for  Magyar  Judaism. 

The  diversity  of  the  interests  which  attracted  his  mind  and 
the  manifoldness  of  his  practical  activity  make  him  a  peer- 
less man.  Upon  the  gem  of  his  soul  thriveth  the  spirit  of 
the  holy  past,  of  the  prophets,  of  the  messengers  of  the 
Lord. 

One  ray  of  each  of  the  ten  men  of  God  shines  from  the 
face  and  the  edge  of  this  crystal. 

Judaism  in  the  19th  century  was  rich  with  men  of  great  in- 
tellectual force.  The  constantly  rising  sunrays  awaked  its 
hidden  strength,  which  were  again  and  again  cast  into  dark- 
ness. At  the  dawn  of  this  century  was  born  Leopold  Loew, 
one  of  its  pathfinders. 

In  his  brain  there  were  united  the  civilization  and  the 
learning  of  his  century.  Enthusiastic  love  for  his  ancient 
faith  filled  his  heart.  The  charm  of  speech  flowed  from  his 
lips.  The  noble  heartedness  of  wise  men  gilded  his  enchant- 
ing individuality. 

He  was  a  person  far  above  the  usual  caliber  of  men.  He 
was  not  one  of  the  thousands  pressed  into  a  form  like  bricks 


LEOPOLD  LOEW  87 

used  in  building  up  humanity,  but  a  carefully  hewed, 
measured  groundstone,  exactly  fitting  into  its  place.  If  it  be 
lost  the  very  structure  cannot  be  completed. 

Time  did  not  replace  him,  because  when  once  a  great  in- 
dividuality and  its  charm  are  lost,  nothing  can  fill  its  place. 

Nobody  filled  his  place  with  his  boundless  enthusiasm,  his 
inexhaustible  learning,  his  never  ebbing  industry. 

We,  his  children  and  his  disciples,  put  aside  our  sandals  in 
following  his  footsteps  and  with  blissful  prayer  do  we  en- 
twine his  name.  Amen. 


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